Exciting updates!

Greg, at the World Trade Center Memorial

So as promised in the last blog post, I shall update you on the more "practical" side of life ;)

Since the last update, Greg has been to Japan and back...we have moved into our own apartment space down in Midwood (south Brooklyn)...we have settled into the non-routine of our office...we have found the cheapest grocery stores...we have hung out with our amazing cousin Josiah who was in from CA...we have had incredible sushi and enjoyed our first NY movie with a friend from Springfield who was here for an interview...we have cooked some delicious food...we have settled into a Wednesday Bible study (Community Group i.e. CG) at church...we have begun to work with the youth discipleship outreach at Redeemer...we have finished Bound...we have purchased our very own broom ;)...we have slogged through 3-4 inches of freezing cold watery slush on an abnormally warm day...we have explored parts of Manhattan...we have been to visit the World Trade Center memorial...Greg has a joined a gym and is sore every day...Monica lost her Metro Card and had to replace it so Ballet is on hold yet again...we have two showings of Bound to NY Middle / High Schoolers in the works...we have to decided to make our own granola...oh, and we got to sing "A Mighty Fortress" with the brass quintet at church.  SO.  INCREDIBLE!

Well, there you  have it.  It would take a tremendous amount of time to flesh out ALL of that, so I'll hit on some highlights.

Greg's trip to Japan.  I can't fill that in...you'll have to stay on pins and needles until he can write that up ;)

Our new apartment: we are renting a studio style apartment in south Brooklyn from a couple in our church.  Who are incredible, Grace already calls herself our NY Mom, and who happened to have homeschooled their children.  It's a small world, you guys.  We never even prayed for a situation this much of a blessing!!  The space is about 660 sq. ft, has a pleasant living space, attached bedroom and bath, and a HUGE (for NY) kitchen.  It is situated in a primarily Jewish neighborhood, so it's very quiet here.  We love our new home.

The kitchen.  Because it's positively our favorite!

It's been fun hosting family and friends who have stopped by, and would love to see more of you over the next year.

Visit with cousin Josiah.

Bible Study, and youth group: we're blessed, so blessed, to be plugged into a solid church here in NYC.  The teaching on Sundays is solid, challenging and applicable, and carries through the week for discussion, application and prayer on Wednesday nights.  Our CG is primarily older folks (as in 30+) but they have been a challenge and blessing.  Friday night youth group is brand new to us, but after our first visit, a good chat and prayer time with Joe Yu the coordinator, and some discussion, Greg and I are VERY excited about becoming a part of the discipleship that is shaping up.  Joe has an incredible vision for reaching into these kids lives to bridge the gap between Sunday head knowledge, and the apologetics and day to day life application of what they know.  He describes their lives as particularly fractured.  At age 12, their "right of passage" if you will is getting their metro card and riding the subway alone.  And in NYC, there is essentially nothing to which they have not been exposed...but they're emotional and spiritual state is so young, so immature!  We both believe God is leading us to join the team in some capacity, and ask that you join us prayer as we better seek how we fit into the ministry team and learn to love and care for these children.

Bound.  Yes, it's done.  It's shipping back with final color completed, as I type.  This feels like such an understatement after so long, it's just feels so far away, so hard to believe it's complete and ready to reach and teach now!  We're very excited at some opportunities that are taking shape to share it with middle schoolers here in NYC, and at moments are simply giddy thinking about how God has seen this through to completion, used us to do that, and is beginning to show us how He will use it.  Please pray for and with us, as it's "real" life begins.  Greg has prayed for years that God will reach millions with the message of Bound, and that it will touch lives in a greater capacity than our two little selves could ever do on our own.  We have six years of faithfulness to point to, and numerous stories building up already of how God has used this film to touch lives before it was done.  We trust that God is going to continue that work!!

Ah!  The blizzard.  That wasn't.  Yes, we got some nasty bitter wind and a light 6 inches of snow.  The worst of the weather skirted around the city.  However, we got to experience the subway shutting down, offices closing down, the travel ban that wasn't enforced well enough to keep the cross country skiers off the streets of Manhattan, and items like snow boots selling clean out.  Life is an adventure guys!

The snow was pretty for a few hours.