A Miracle in Progress

May 30, 2023 Most of the blogs on this site are written in hindsight months, usually years, after the experience. This one, however, is being written while the miracle is still in progress. I don’t know what the outcome of this story will be but I can feel that the events of last night will actually be part of a major miracle story to share later. This blog will be updated as it unfolds.

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I sold my car in NYC last year because parking was a nightmare to deal with so usually when I need to drive around New York I rent a Zipcar or pick up a rental from the airport. On Sunday afternoon I rented a car from Newark Airport in New Jersey, which is the closest airport to my apartment in Hells Kitchen. I only needed it for a day so I headed back to the airport last night (Memorial Day Monday) to return the car. It was about 10:00 pm by the time I was done checking the car back in with Hertz. I hopped on the Air Train to take me back to the terminals in the airport so I could catch an Uber or Lyft home. While I was on the train, I overhear two older women loudly discussing some kind of problem they were having. I wasn’t paying attention to their words but their tone sounded extremely frustrated and defeated. I decided to pay closer attention to their conversation and figured out that they were upset because they couldn’t figure out how to get into NYC at that time. It was 10:15 pm on Memorial Day and public transit wasn’t running on schedule. Plus it was getting pretty late. Without thinking about it, I heard myself say “Where are you trying to go? I’m taking a Lyft into the city so if you want, you can ride with me for free since I’m already paying for it.” They instantly looked relieved and said they were trying to go to 42nd street. This seemed perfect because I live on 45th Street. As we made plans to get off the Air Train at the next stop to catch the Lyft, several people on the train jumped into the conversation and tried to deter us from going forward with our plan. An older gentlemen told me Lyft’s were not available, while the two people next to me said that they had trouble trying to catch an Uber from the airport. Others on the train agreed and said it was best to take the New Jersey train from the airport. I shrugged off their suggestions and motioned for the the two women to come with me but the damage was done. The women thanked me for the offer but opted to go with the crowd to the New Jersey transit station.

I stepped off the Air Train into Terminal B and immediately open my app ride-sharing apps. Lyft was charging $111 to drive me the 16 miles from Newark to my house in Hells Kitchen. Uber was charging $156 for the same trip. I remembered a comment that a cab driver told me recently. “Taxi rides from the airport are flat rates. They don’t surge like Uber or Lyft. Take a cab from the airport.” I head over to the cab line where thankfully there were only 2 people in line ahead of me. Both seemed to be upset that the cab rates were higher than usual and were trying to figure out if they wanted to pay the fare. I thought “oh great, the taxi rates are higher tonight too” so I turned around to the person who was walking into the line behind me and said “Where are you headed?” He looked at me like I was crazy and replied cautiously “uhh the city.” I replied “Where in the city?” He slowly replied “Hells Kitchen.” This was a sheer coincidence. I lived in Hells Kitchen too. We quickly figure out that we live two blocks away from each other so sharing a taxi actually made a lot of sense. He seemed reluctant to share a cab with me but also seemed too tired to come up with a reason to reject my offer so we hop into a car together. As we head towards home, we discover some commonalities. We both work in tech and the startup space. He is the founder of a hot new AI company. I tell him about WYL and what I do there. He asks some questions about my role and then mentions that I should talk to the founder of a proptech company that he knows. I perk up at this because while I was unfamiliar with the company, the CEO of my company had recently brought up this same company in a conversation to me last week. My cab buddy offered to introduce us. I didn’t really know anything about the company except its name so I politely accepted the offer but didn’t think much about it. However, when I mentioned it to my CEO today, he became excited and thought it would be a really great opportunity for us. I finally decide to look into the company and was blown away by how much they aligned with our vision and objective. We aren’t competitors in any way and actually provide complementing services. They are much further ahead in their journey than we are, and have all of the clients that we want, so a partnership with them could be game-changing for our company. This is where the story ends… for now. I believe this is a major miracle in progress so I’ll keep you posted on what comes of this introduction.

BTW, my cab buddy was kind enough to cover the entire fare for the taxi ride home. I tried to Venmo him my half as agreed but he refused to accept it. That in itself is a blessing. I believe this was God’s way of rewarding me for my obedience with the two women earlier. I didn’t really want to share a car ride with two strangers but it seemed like the right thing to do given the situation they were in. They ultimately didn’t take me up on the offer but I believe God was pleased with the posture of my heart. Most importantly though, that specific incident set me up to be bold enough to ask a stranger to share a cab ride with me home. And THAT is where this miracle in progress begins. My pastor had a sermon once that gave me this tagline I will never forget: you have to participate in your miracle. Very often we pray and then sit back to wait on God to do the miraculous thing. However, many of the miracles in the Bible required something of the disciples. Today, the requirement of me was to be bold and willing to share a cab ride with a stranger.

Stay tuned on this developing miracle!