A Warm Bus for Cold Souls!

We are learning that Winter in NYC can be difficult. In our first couple of months here we have experienced multiple snows (one with over 10 inches of accumulation), temperatures in the low teens, regular rain and an almost constant wind. And we get to experience all of this with our main form of transportation being walking and the subway.

The other night Katie, Natalie and I were walking from the subway to a bus stop, the temperature was around 15 and the wind was blowing at about 30 mph. I was literally having to hold on to Natalie to keep her from blowing away. My face was numb and my ears felt like they would shatter if someone touched them. When we finally reached the bus stop I had never been so happy to get on a bus before in my life. As we began to feel the warmth of the bus and were able to talk again, we all kind of laughed about the situation!

Believe it or not, looking back on that night makes me realize just how much we love our new city, our new way of life and our calling to plant a church here in NYC. There have been times in my life when difficulty and challenges have caused me to doubt my calling or grow frustrated and insecure. I think in the past this has been because deep down inside I always believed that my success in ministry was based primarily on what I did instead of what God does. 

This call on our family to NYC is something so much greater than any of us could accomplish in our own strength. Planting a church in a city where the spiritual ground is hard is beyond me. Seeing people that are currently far from God being transformed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ is no work of my hands. I have come to realize that this is the beginning of faith. For most of my Christian life faith was my belief that God would come through when I couldn't. Now God has taught me that faith is knowing that God will come through regardless of what I have to offer. 

That cold and windy night a couple of weeks ago will always be a reminder to me that God is our shelter through the storm, not from the storm. As we walk this path there will be cold hearts, windy, unstable circumstances, and times that we feel like we are out of control. But still God is leading us. He is leading through the storm, through the cold and through the wind so that when we finally reach our place of shelter He will be the one that receives all the glory, honor and praise!

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One Single Step - Our First Worship Gathering

"A journey of a thousand miles begin with one step."

Our lives are filled with examples of this truth. Katie and I celebrated 20 years of marriage this year and it all began on our first date on October 20, 1989. We now have two teenagers in our house and that journey began on PJ's birthday, April 10, 1998. Last night will hopefully be another one of those meaningful nights in our lives. On Sunday, February 17th we held our first worship gathering in connection with New City Church.

In our initial planning we were not anticipating having any type of worship service until at least this fall. However as I would introduce myself to people in our community as a new pastor in town of a new church they would always ask, "Where do you meet?"

Also over the last month we have connected with a number of other believers that are relatively new to NYC as well. Many of them are like us in that they have moved to NYC to plant a church. Others are praying about what God has in mind for them in this city. But one of the ideas that continued to be raised was creating a place for believers going through similar issues to gather together for prayer and encouragement.

So, we began to pray about beginning a monthly service that would meet both of these needs. We would have a place to invite new friends that we are making in Long Island City and we would have a place for believers to gather together and pray for one another. We shared this idea with a number of people and got commitments form three other families to be there. We made plans to rent the community room of our apartment building and began to invite others. And then God did some amazing things.

As we began to plan we knew we needed 3 things: a worship leader, $300 to reserve our community room, and people to come. In less that a week from deciding to do this here is what happened: one of our new friends Trey and Caitlin, who are gifted worship leaders, volunteered to lead worship, a local organization donated $300 to us to cover the cost of the facility rental, and 15 people committed to come to our first service.

Even with God answering such specific prayers, I'll be honest I was a little nervous heading into our worship gathering last night. Fears like, will anyone come, will they enjoy what we are doing, will we honor God in our gathering, all began to creep into my mind. But God in his faithfulness set aside those fears.

Last night we had 19 people join us for worship. It was an amazing time of celebration, Bible study, music and prayer. God brought a real sense of community among those who came. I could not have imagined a better first step on the journey of a thousand miles!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. It overwhelms us every time we hear someone say that they are praying for us.

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Finding Nemo - Snow Pictures

Well we have experienced our first real snow here in NYC. Officially we received about 10 inches of snow in our area. Some friends of ours out in Long Island got over 2 feet of snow. The snow came on Friday night. By Saturday morning it was beautiful and sunny outside, a perfect day to go out and experience the snow.

Our entire family spent much of the day in Central Park playing, taking pictures and just having fun. Snow in NYC is very different than in Georgia. First of all, it is a dry, powdery snow. Not real good for making snow balls. Second, the city doesn't go crazy when snow hits. Although we went to our local store to pick up some food, it just happened to be our natural shopping day. No schools were closed, no church services were cancelled on that Sunday. 

Below are some pictures of our day in the snow.

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