August 10, 2008

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm in the Space getting a little work done before our Theatre renters come in. (It's my turn to 'sit the space'.) Then we will have Church at 7pm. It's nice and quiet and I love getting time like this to get things done before the commotion of daily life here starts up again.

I wasn't sure I would like it when we switched to Sunday evening service instead of Sunday morning (must be the Southern Baptist in me). Actually, I like getting things taken care of early in the day and having the evening to relax at home. But I have loved having evening services instead. Life here is soooo hectic and busy. Saturdays are usually just another work day. Getting to have quiet time at home on Sunday morning is such a gift. Also, it's the best time to catch up with people here in NYC. They usually have Sunday afternoon and evenings free (at least more free than the rest of the week). Also, the overall feeling of the worship service feels more relaxed, inviting and intentional. People usually start showing up an hour or so before hand and really enjoy hanging out and catching up with one another. The the service time usually goes 2-2 1/2 hours long. We have to make a conscious effort to stop. Everyone just likes being here and sharing and discussing God, His Word and how it applies to our lives. Sometimes we have music, sometimes we have other types of worship exercises. It's not your traditional, Bible-belt type of service. But it IS a very heart-felt time of joining together in worshiping our God. I'm very blessed to be a part of it. I usually go home after service (after all it's past 9pm and I need my beauty sleep!), but a lot of the people go out to eat and hang out a little more. It's very much a loving community of Believers. We have had some new visitors lately and it's wonderful to see how inviting and loving our church family has become. I'm loving Sunday nights!!!

We had another team in this past Saturday. They are from Pastor Mike's home church (House of the Rock Family Church in PA) and they drove over for the day. God blessed us with a beautiful day to be outside. The team did a lot of prayer walking throughout Hell's Kitchen, Clinton, Midtown, Times Square, and Central Park. A few of the Project Find locations were visited and prayed for, as well as some Police Precincts and Firehouses. It was a pretty low-key day as far as manual labor (the Space was booked with renters and most of the streets we walked down were actually pretty clean!) so spent a lot of time talking about NYC and the people here and praying for the city. A team from this church was here last December and plans to come back this December, also. They have sent 3 weekend construction type teams over this past month. We expect to see a lot of teams from them and are excited to share this work with them.

A huge portion of our church family are out of town for August. (A lot of NYC goes out of the city for the summer, too.) Please keep everyone traveling in your prayers for safety (and for lower gas prices!). It's a quiet month to relax, reflect and work on some cerebral projects. Pray we don't squander that blessing of time!

I was thinking of some funny things that happened over July. We had 5 teams in during the month. Brittani stayed with me most of that time. Besides the interesting things that happened at the apartment, we had one adult from the LA team get stuck in the elevator for an hour while the building people called the elevator company in Queens to come and help. (I'm thankful it wasn't one of the kids.) The team from NC encountered a large rat in the subway. Now, it's not unusual to see rats running all over the tracks. This particular rat ran across the platform and across one of the girls' feet. Of course she screamed, and one of the manly men admitted to screaming like a little girl. I'm sure that lots of other funny stuff happens to teams, but I don't always hear about them. We are always having weird stuff happen to us here at the church. Such is life in NYC...

I spent 2 days in the last 2 weeks going to some Red Cross classes. There is a really nice Red Cross facility between the Space and my apartment (which by NYC terms is like next door!). I took CPR and First Aid. I had the same instructor for both classes. His name is Reggie and he was a hoot. I did learn a lot and refreshed on skills that I had forgotten. It was fun to meet new people in the classes, too.

I just had dinner from one of my favorite restaurants (a hole in the wall, really) down the street. Here, most of the restaurants deliver (even McDonalds) and I have the phone number for 'Golden Chicken' memorized. All I have to do is tell them my address here at the Space and they tell me what my standing order is. Do you think I eat there too much??? Also, there is a Subway sandwich restaurant about a block away. One of the guys in there recognizes me now, too. I think I need to expand my horizons a little!

I allow myself one meal out a day. The rest of the time I eat from home. It's hard to do some days with my crazy schedule, but I'm sure enjoying all the goodies that people have sent me in the care packages. (Did you know that Hamburger Helper makes a hashbrown dish? yummy!) I use ground turkey instead of hamburger, and my local market sometimes has it on sale. That's when I know it's a hamburger helper week! The other weeks I enjoy rice-a-roni and pasta mixes. It is such a blessing to have stuff to cook for free! Thanks to you all!!!

It's been raining off and on over the past week. One afternoon I was sitting in Central Park (enjoying a small piece of Jr's cheesecake and reading a book) and it was beautifully sunny. 15 minutes later it was a downpour! Luckily, I was only 5-6 blocks from home, so I took off walking (and getting mighty soaked! thank goodness for my short, wash and wear hair!). By the time I got home it was sunny again! I was really thankful that it was sunny all day Saturday when the team was here. Today and for the next few days, it will be rainy off and on. Some of the 'suburbs' in the boroughs are getting really bad storms and winds. Manhattan seems to just get tons of rain.

Well, I had better get a little more work done while it's still quiet. Just wanted to share some thoughts while I had the chance.

God is good and always walking beside me. When I start running out of steam, He is there to keep pushing me forward. I just have to learn how not to trip!

Blessings!