nyc round 3.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my mission trip to New York City and described the work we did that week... Well I thought it would be cool to follow that up with a photo blog of some sight-seeing that we did throughout the trip. (Sorry that it took me so long to get these pictures up) This was my third trip to the "Big Apple" so I skipped a few of the mainstream attractions like the Empire State Building...

                

Central Park! I seriously want to go on a run here someday. Sadly, it was freezing and I was still in my walking boot on the trip. One day though! 

FAO Schwartz... Pretty much the coolest toy store EVER. This is always a must-see when I go to NYC. The Batman picture is actually a joke with a friend who took a picture with him last time we were in the city! It's still pretty legit... he is made entirely of Legos!

Trump Tower. The wall was a fountain! Buttt our favorite part was the "T" on the windows because it looks JUST like our "Power T"... Go VOLS!

I wish I could remember the name of this church... it was off of 5th Avenue...

Rockefeller Center! The only thing missing was the Christmas Tree (and Will Ferrell for all you ELF fans)

Time Square!

Ground Zero. The new Freedom Tower is almost finished (first picture) and the World Trade Towers Memorial is open to the public (other pictures). This was by the far the most emotional sight-seeing we did. They are still constructing a few more buildings and a transportation hub on the site. During my other two trips to NYC the memorial was still under construction so it was awesome to finally see it. 

 Staten Island Ferry. Views of Manhattan, New Jersey, Ellis Island, Liberty Island and the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Wall Street. Kristi and I took a picture here to show our Business Strategy professor but we never did...

Longest Subway Platform EVER. Scott and I ran... just to say we did.

Greenwich Village! This was one part of NYC I had never been to and ALWAYS wanted to see. It is now my FAVORITE part of the city. It has a small neighborhood feel inside such a big place. Plus, I actually found the building that the show FRIENDS is based off of (the last picture) which was awesome. 

Washington Square Park. Apparently I'm going to be in a music video...? Yes, that is me in the bright blue shirt (second picture). I stick out like a sore thumb haha.

New Hope Christian Church in Queens. One of the coolest worship experiences of my life. Such a great way to start off the week.

Hindu temple. We were able to tour their facility... the inside was extravagant (we couldn't take pictures once inside). This was a cool experience but so heart-breaking to see the brokenness of the people inside... they were putting all their hope into golden idols. Praying for these peoples' souls. 

Gyro. so so so good. (This picture is for my Pops, who loves gyros)

This was on the wall of one of the ESL centers we worked at. So sweet. I really want to visit Africa soon... (cough cough... Kahler and Katy Stone)

NYC Fire Station. Tell me this isn't what you picture when you think of a fire station in New York?!

Empire State Building. This is as close as I got this trip. (I have been up to the top before though)

Best. Gelato. Ever.

STOMP! Every time I've been to NYC, I've had the privilege of seeing a Broadway show (The Lion King, Wicked... and now STOMP). This was such a fun night! These two lovely ladies are some of my favorites! The only thing missing was Alex...

urban impact.

Last week was my spring break (quite possibly my last spring break) and the ministry that I serve with at UT partnered with three local churches to sponsor a mission trip to the Big Apple. (Fun Fact: I went to NYC on a mission trip spring break of my freshmen year as well... starting and ending college with a trip to the 'city that never sleeps') I'm gonna have another entry soon on all of the sight-seeing stuff we did the first weekend in the city but this post is meant to focus on the reason we were there:

The organization that I had the opportunity to serve with for the week was Urban Impact. Their mission is to reach out to immigrants who come from the most remote and unreached areas of the world. They are a Christian non-profit organization that spreads the name of Jesus through teaching English as a Second Language. Sounds awesome, right?! It is!

I had the privilege of "teaching" on three different occasions which is an INCREDIBLE experience. All of the guys I worked with were extremely receptive and eager to learn but I had a special session with one guy in particular... 

This is Sam. He is from West Africa (I never could understand exactly which part haha). He's only been in America for 10 months and he currently sells cell phone accessories. He has a wife and four children (three daughters and a son) still in Africa and his whole objective is to bring them here for a "better life." I think a big reason this time was so special for me was not just due to the connection we had but the Lord has laid it on my heart to go to Africa at some point in my life (hopefully soon). 

Something else you should know is that we stayed in Rockaway Beach, Queens, which was hit HARD by Hurricane Sandy. Some of the stories we heard were terrifying and something I pray I never have to experience first-hand... but hearing all of this really helped us to connect to the people we were serving. In fact, Urban Impact is actually helping to launch a church right there on the island and we were blessed to be able to help. We worked on construction projects and handed out ALOT of flyers for promotion and it was SO WORTH IT. It was perfect (AKA God) timing because they still had a lot of work to do when we arrived in order to launch on Easter Sunday... but it was a HUGE success! They had over 150 guests last week with a few people accepting Christ! It's such a blessing that the Lord allowed us to be a small part of it. Here are a few pictures of the church to give you a better idea: (it was originally an old warehouse that Urban used to house supplies for the victims of Sandy)

 

So that's a small glimpse of what we did by partnering with Urban Impact last week. I could list countless stories of how the Lord worked through small conversations, street evangelism, the ESL classes, on the island and so many things... but it's hard to get the full effect through a blog. SO, please feel free to call/text/email/Facebook me and ask more about my trip and this wonderful ministry!

busy.

I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while but hadn't quite nailed down what I wanted to say. And ironically enough, as I'm writing about being "busy," I've never had so much free time IN. MY. LIFE. But venture with me...

It all started well over a month ago when I was walking back from class one morning. This guy walking in front of me yelled at a friend across the street: "Hey buddy, can we grab lunch this week?" To which his friend responded, "I don't know man, I have a really busy week. I'll text you!"

This brief exchange really got me thinking... Isn't that a pretty normal response? "I have a busy week." Aren't we all busy? For example, on any given day, I have class, work, homework, intramurals, ministry events, group meetings, etc. Most days I feel like I wake up and GO GO GO until bed. But don't most people? Isn't that the norm in our society now?

So, the question becomes... what are we busy with? What is consuming our schedule? I think it's so easy to get caught up in all the things we "have to do" and lose sight of the important things in life. It's easy to skip a quiet time with the Lord after a long day. It's easy to let friendships suffer because of other commitments. It's easy to miss out on opportunities because we can't take our "blinders" off.

Prime example: Earlier in the semester I was going for a run... it was one of those days where I was "squeezing in" a workout because of everything else I had going on. As I was running down Cumberland Avenue, there was a homeless man sitting at the bus stop. Well as I went by him, something told me to STOP. To talk to this man. Pray for this man. Help this man. It was most definitely the Holy Spirit. But you know what I did? I kept running. I was "so busy" and in "too much of a hurry" to stop. To be obedient. This moment has stuck with me and I'll have to answer for my disobedience one day; but it has taught me to slow down. We can't continue to "run" through life, going from one task to the next blindly. We can't be too busy to see the needs of those around us. We have to learn, in a fast-paced world, to SLOW DOWN.

rampant.

My mind is running rampant tonight: I just finished the toughest week of my semester only to run face-first into a tougher one. We leave on Thursday for NYC to work with Urban Impact for a week. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my foot. I graduate in less than two months and head straight to Houston for the next three months of my life. And I have a heavy heart.

Overwhelming thought today: At some point, I'm going to fail my friends. My friends are going to fail me. Leaders are going to fail me. Mentors. Teachers. Family. Co-workers. They're all going to fail me and I'm going to fail them. It's a sad fact of life... we're all fallen sinners. Many (or most) of the time I'm a second-thought or after-thought to friends. BUT not to God. He will NEVER fail me. His story is that of REDEMPTION. How could I not be encouraged by that?!

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or frightened because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."

[Deuteronomy 31:6]

Strong words from Moses to Joshua... and me. So this week, I'll be encouraged because my God is mighty. He's big. He's a healer. He's a provider. And He loves me. I pray you'll be encouraged as well.

crippled.

Welp. I haven't blogged in quite some time... my apologies to all of my die-hard followers (the few. the proud. the loyal.)

I've been meaning to write about my current injury for a couple of weeks now BUT my heart hasn't been right in regards to my situation. For those of you who don't know, I broke a bone in my foot a couple of weekends ago playing indoor volleyball. (I would explain more but it's really a pathetic story of a collision and a lack of balance.) Consequently I'm now in a BOOT for at least two more weeks... maybe four. I had crutches (seen below) but I ditched them pretty quick (despite the wishes of my mom. and my friends. and probably my doctor.)

And honestly... I was bitter. Really bitter. The first week was tough. I was training for my first half-marathon. My last semester of intramural soccer had just started. And to top it all off... (feel free to laugh) I started a "walking" class the week after I broke my foot. Yes, I need the credit hour in order to graduate and, you're right, I can't walk. Perfect combination. 

Thankfully, my mom (a constant sound of reason) made sure to remind me that my God is in control and is trying to show me something during this hard time. Besides, as His Word says, I'm not promised tomorrow so I better rejoice in TODAY. (But I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while to get to this point!)

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has trouble of its own."

[Matthew 6:34]

Luckily, I have some pretty incredible friends and co-workers that have been more than helpful during this time. Some have walked (lesbe honest, crawled) to class with me. Others have brought me food. Given me rides. Sympathized. Listened to me whine. So for that... I'm grateful. 

I still have my rough days and my bitter moments... Ya know, those times when you're hobbling back from class and somebody runs past you or your friends play a game of pick-up soccer. But I realize that there will be other half-marathons. And soccer games. And I'm bound and determined to pass this DANG walking class! However, prayers are always appreciated for a timely return to action and strength on my bad days...