February 25, 2009

Wednesday night. It's been a good couple of days. God is filling my time with lots of little joys and opps to talk about Him. He's also given me some moments to keep me grounded... so far this week I have almost left my extra book bag at a train station, got that same bag caught in the subway train doors, banged my leg on the turn-style at another subway station (have a huge bruise), gotten on a bus going the wrong direction and almost got run over by a taxi. I'm glad He keeps me humble!

Yesterday, I went to Queens to have a lunch meeting with Mike. I enjoyed traveling to the quiet neighborhood. Mike enjoyed not having to travel to Manhattan. Good deal. It was really nice to sit and talk and catch up on how we are each doing and all things Parable-related. And a healthy lunch is always nice.

We stopped to talk to a man in a little park on the way back to the train. He allowed us to take a picture of me talking with him. He had the cutest long gray beard in a ponytail under his chin. Anyway, he was unemployed, out looking for a job as a mechanic, and taking a break on the bench in the park. He had a calm essence about him. Just kind of matter of fact. Lots of people are out of jobs here (as everywhere); you just go on about your business and look for another one (which probably won't come along for a long time).

I scurried over to GCN to serve dinner with Mr. Lou. Vanessa was off for her birthday. There were 2 other volunteers working. One girl from NYU who I have worked with once before. She usually works different days than me. A former Bronx math teacher who lives in CT and takes the train into the city to volunteer at GCN on Tuesdays. He was really nice to talk with. It was a good night. I overheard one of the clients say that he had found a job. It's nice to see familiar faces at the center and even better to hear good news. I stopped off at Wild Greens Chop Shop for a big salad. I guess everyone around there heads home after work because the restaurant offers a 10% discount after 5pm to get customers. It was yummy.

Then I went to Bible study at Erin's. Every week I seem to have an 'adventure' on my way to Bible study. My sense of direction doesn't always work well south of 14th St. ha! Anyway, we were studying Mary this week. There was good conversation, insightful sharing and some prayer requests. Since I don't have a printer, Erin allows me to use her computer to print off docs on Tuesdays. It works out pretty well for me!

Today I went to the Upper East Side to get my hair cut by Allison. It's always a joy to visit with her. Even though I have to take 2 buses and almost an hour to get there. She asks about my church and friends. We talk about her family and about God. It's nice.

Then I ran down to meet with my friend Will, who is a church planter for one of the largest churches in Manhattan. He also comes to Parable. We don't get the chance to talk a lot on Sunday nights (and he travels abroad a lot), so we got to catch up a little today. I value his Christian wisdom and his friendship.

I then walked over to GCN to serve dinner tonight. Vanessa was back and Mr. Lou was working. Then we had 5 more volunteers show up. One guy comes randomly to help. 4 of the people were employees from an advertising company. We accomplished a lot tonight in short order! Besides serving meals, we also got snacks ready and we tag-teamed 50 pounds of potatoes and another 20 pounds of carrots. I find so much joy in listening to other people's stories. One girl is from Japan, one from Serbia. We discussed moving to and living in America, NYC, driving, and other stuff. It was interesting hearing about how the economy has affected their company, their clients' companies and such. It effects everyone differently.

Speaking of different perceptions... I was standing on the curb today and a van stopped abruptly at a red light. A concrete truck hit it hard enough in the rear that the van scooted about 4 feet forward. A taxi had to swerve way too close to me for my own comfort to avoid the vehicles. Now, anywhere else, the drivers of the vehicles would have gotten out of their rides, checked the damage and called the police for an official report for their insurance companies. In NYC, if the vehicle still moves, you just accept it. Who wants to hold up traffic waiting on the cops? The van driver just looked over at me and shook his head back and forth like he was disgusted at the cement truck driver. The cement truck stayed where it was up against the van until the light turned green again. Then everyone went on their merry way. This isn't the first time I've seen 'contact' between vehicles, usually not as noisy, but still no one cares unless it's a fancy car or someone gets hurt. Another one of those NYC oh well moments...

Tomorrow I will be meeting a friend to try out an Indian restaurant. I'm anxious to see what all healthy stuff I can find on their menu. I can't wait to taste those new (to me) spices. I'll try to fit in some laundry or other pre-trip chores before heading off to serve dinner at Coffeehouse. I look so forward to seeing my 'peeps' at the kitchens.

I think God is nudging me into my AR schedule. He's waking me up earlier each day and sending me to bed before midnight. I am thankful, too, that AR is an hour behind NYC time. Who better than the Creator of Time to help me adjust! He's so good in so many ways.

I've had word lately about new illnesses to family, serious progression of illness to a friend, unexpected death in the family of another friend, have gotten to speak to a couple of friends for the first time in a long while, and met new friends. God is filling my weeks with so much. He's giving me a full life in NYC. I pray that I can be faithful to be ready for the opportunities He brings. I ask you to pray that for me, and for yourselves as well. May we all be ready...