The Big Apple

This past spring for Mother’s Day, Jeff gave me a card stuffed with a homemade CD. When I slipped it into the CD player, I heard Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind. In fact, every song on it was about New York. Our 15 year anniversary was coming up and a trip to New York City would be our present. My efficient (and wise) husband took care of a couple of holidays with this one! We had spent one night there on our 10th anniversary in route to somewhere else and “caught the bug” so we made plans then to go back one day.

For the first time, we asked my parents to come and stay with the kids and they happily obliged. They began scheming and planning to make the visit unforgettable for Julia and Brighton and let me tell you, it was tempting to stay and experience Camp Nanna and Papaw. Once the children caught wind of all the big plans and taste bud delights, they couldn’t wait for us to leave the house.

Just short of sleep deprivation, Jeff and I squeezed every minute we could out of our time in New York. Just like the first time I visited this super energized city, I kept bumping into people because my neck was craned upwards taking it all in. We walked block after block enjoying lots of street vendor pretzels and watching people try to ‘earn’ money in very interesting ways. We enjoyed quite a few slices of pizza, drank coffee almost every chance we got and did lots of window shopping. Then we toured on the Grayline and walked some more. We happened up on the Today Show filming outside and found out that Giada from the Food Network is as beautiful in person as she is on her show. In Central Park, after trying to calculate how much that plot of land is actually worth, we ate lunch in the Crystal Room at the Tavern on the Green which has to be the one of the loveliest rooms I have ever seen. (Dozens of bejeweled chandeliers and a mass of floral lanterns strung through the trees that tower over the glass room- birthday lunch anyone?) We got the FULL experience of Chinatown— there is definitely another entry there. (I know you are on pins and needles.) We got last minute tickets to a Broadway show and a “locals” tour by a family friend which was definitely a highlight.

One night as I was trying to fall asleep, I was thinking of the excitement of our day, all the things I had seen and thought how much fun this city would be with the kids 10 or so years from now. I began thinking of all I would want them to see, but then I started thinking about all the things I WOULDN’T want them to see and THEN, I was like, why in the world would I want to bring them here? I thought, well, I could say, “Look at all the trees in Central Park that God made. Oh, and there is a bird on the street bench.” I began thinking about all that I liked about the city and realized ALL of it appealed to my flesh—the big city, the energy, the lights, the food, TV show sets, the bargain shopping of Canal street, Times Square with its bigger than life ads, the cool stores, movie scene locations, Broadway shows etc. I am truly not trying to ‘overspiritualize’ this whole thing, but as I lay there thinking of all this, it made me sad that it all did appeal to me and I loved being there in the midst of it all. The Bible is clear on this. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does--- comes not from the Father but from the world.” I John 2:15-16. Sadly, my eyes were opened once more to the affections I have for the things of this world and how comfortable I can be in it. I was reminded of what a long way I must have to go in loving God, His ways and His kingdom.

Do I want to go back? Sure. Take the kids? Absolutely. There is depth to this busy city that I want them to experience. We want them to see the Statue of Liberty that represented freedom to so many desperate people, visit Ellis Island to ‘hear’ those stories, see incredible God-inspired art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, enjoy a Broadway musical, see Ground Zero and so many other things. I know they will be distracted by many of the same things I was but my desire for them is that it would not hold their attention long because of the amazing God they have come to know and have experienced for themselves. And as for their Mother who knows this good God and has certainly experienced Him, I will pray that the “Apple” won’t seem quite so appealing next time and as my neck cranes upward it will be for a far better reason.