Coming from Boiling Springs, SC, the trip to his daughter's wedding in Johnson City, TN, should have only taken two hours. However, it took much longer than that for David, including walking 5.5 hours on foot.
David Jones Believe with God, Anything Is Possible
The 64-year-old told USA TODAY, "I think every dad would do everything they could to get to their daughter's wedding. Like the scripture says, 'With God, anything is possible.' I think this was a prime example of that."
And yes, it was. Deciding to leave your car and walk the rest of the way to your daughter's wedding is quite the brave thing to do. He had to believe God would get him where he needed to go.
Because of the hurricane, millions were without power, extreme flooding occurred, and roads and bridges were washed out and closed. David originally planned to drive with his wife and her mother on Friday, the day before the wedding, but he ended up heading out alone. "I had no cell phone service, no internet or anything like that, so I had no idea the extent of the devastation that lay ahead," he said.
David Was Diverted By Hours of Traffic
As David started driving out of South Carolina, he was diverted by hours of traffic and encountered detours. "At one point, it took me three hours to go 10 miles," he said. Once he got to the state line at 2 a.m. on Saturday, the exit he needed was blocked because the bridge was completely washed out.
Around nine hours before the wedding, David Jones decided to get as close to Johnson City as possible. He even planned to Facetime and walk his daughter down the aisle virtually if need be. He left his car at the exit on Interstate 26 and started traveling on foot toward the washed-out bridge.
"I grabbed my backpack, threw in my shaving kit and a couple of days of socks and underwear, grabbed my windbreaker, and off I went," David said. After he had walked 3-4 miles, he started to encounter washed-out roads and debris from farms, fences, and huge trees.
He Traveled 30 Miles and Made It to the Wedding in Time
David got through that area and back on the interstate. However, the next bridge he needed to cross was "completely wiped out." The only other option was to take the bridge in Erwin, which he was able to do. After he went over the bridge, a trooper gave him a ride to Erwin's town hall, and he started walking again from there.
He didn't tell his daughter about his adventure before the wedding so that she wouldn't be thinking about it during the ceremony. He did bring out the red reflector he had used on his travels during his reception speech. "I presented (the reflector) to them and said, 'I want this to be a remembrance for you, and whenever you see it, to remember that you need to protect each other in life, especially in your darkest moments as this reflector did for me. That's when you need it the most,'" David recalled.
The Bride Praises God That Her Dad Made It
David's daughter was so thankful that he could walk her down the aisle. "My dad loves me so much that he would come through all of that to get to my wedding," she said. "I woke up at 4:30 this morning and just wide awake, just spent that whole morning praising God that my dad made it and that my dad's alive."
The bride will never forget how her dad traveled 30 miles through the treacherous ground to attend her wedding. We are glad he made it safely and got to experience that special moment with his daughter.
This content originally appeared on GodUpdates.com; used with permission.
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