There is a convenient store on the corner underneath our train stop. It is open at almost all hours of the day, and we stop in there quite frequently. About a week ago, I discovered a tiny orange kitten that lives in the store. Now, I stop in every time I walk by so I can play with him. I call him Calcetines, which is Spanish for "socks." You guessed it: he has white paws. But it had to be Spanish, because the owners of the store, and many of the customers, speak Spanish.
When I hold him up to my face, he plays with my hair. And when I put him back on the ground, he chases after me and paws at my feet. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy to hold Calcetines. Maybe because he is all warm and fuzzy.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Exchanging Pleasantries
The past few days have been so pleasant. Not fun, although there have been fun times, and not exciting, even though a few things have excited me, but pleasant. And this was precisely what I needed coming into this week.
When days are fun and exciting, its great, but that quickly becomes exhausting. I've been exhausted for a while. I was ready to try for restored. So on Monday, we had some time for reflection after our weekly meeting with Jared, and I went down to lower Manhattan and caught the ferry out to Staten Island. I love water, and boats, and while a ferry isn't exactly the same thing as a boat, and the East River isn't very pristine, it was still an excellent ride. I could go into all these descriptions of things I felt, saw, and experienced, but it would come out sounding cheesy to you, and I don't want to cheapen it. Let it suffice to say that I felt like a true and whole individual, glad to be where I was, but ready to reach land again.
Yesterday, on our day off, Clarissa and I went to the Bronx Zoo, which is supposed to be the best zoo in New York City. It was beautiful, and there was a new exhibit which opened recently: Madagascar! There were lemurs, fossas, and... Madagascarian hissing roaches! Oh heck no. They were disgusting. I avoided those and spent most of my time with the lemurs. After a few hours there, we left for Manhattan to meet up with a group of our friends in Central Park. The New York Philharmonic was playing their second free concert in the park. This is a truly New York experience, a summer tradition, that attracts thousands of people and packs out the Great Lawn. We had a huge spread of blankets, and all the wine and cheese we could desire. The best part about the night: one woman I had a conversation with asked me how I was enjoying my time in New York. Of course, I said that I loved it, that I could certainly see myself living here for some time. She replied that I already seem like I do.
I'm not sure what God is doing in my life, or where he is leading me. In fact, these past few weeks I've been faced with a great amount of doubt and questions, and I've wondered where God has been and what the heck has been going on. But these past few days have convinced me that he is moving slowly and steadily, which is... pleasant.
When days are fun and exciting, its great, but that quickly becomes exhausting. I've been exhausted for a while. I was ready to try for restored. So on Monday, we had some time for reflection after our weekly meeting with Jared, and I went down to lower Manhattan and caught the ferry out to Staten Island. I love water, and boats, and while a ferry isn't exactly the same thing as a boat, and the East River isn't very pristine, it was still an excellent ride. I could go into all these descriptions of things I felt, saw, and experienced, but it would come out sounding cheesy to you, and I don't want to cheapen it. Let it suffice to say that I felt like a true and whole individual, glad to be where I was, but ready to reach land again.
Yesterday, on our day off, Clarissa and I went to the Bronx Zoo, which is supposed to be the best zoo in New York City. It was beautiful, and there was a new exhibit which opened recently: Madagascar! There were lemurs, fossas, and... Madagascarian hissing roaches! Oh heck no. They were disgusting. I avoided those and spent most of my time with the lemurs. After a few hours there, we left for Manhattan to meet up with a group of our friends in Central Park. The New York Philharmonic was playing their second free concert in the park. This is a truly New York experience, a summer tradition, that attracts thousands of people and packs out the Great Lawn. We had a huge spread of blankets, and all the wine and cheese we could desire. The best part about the night: one woman I had a conversation with asked me how I was enjoying my time in New York. Of course, I said that I loved it, that I could certainly see myself living here for some time. She replied that I already seem like I do.
I'm not sure what God is doing in my life, or where he is leading me. In fact, these past few weeks I've been faced with a great amount of doubt and questions, and I've wondered where God has been and what the heck has been going on. But these past few days have convinced me that he is moving slowly and steadily, which is... pleasant.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
I haven't posted in a week
Wow! It's been a whole week since I've posted. I'm sorry! Things have been really busy, and it's hard for me to find internet these days.
Last Monday, we had a meeting with Hugo, who works with the church here. He is also a counselor, and that is what brought us to our meeting with him. Jared had scheduled for us to have a discussion on brokenness, which is really vague, I know, and Hugo was asked to lead the discussion. He has a great deal of experience dealing with brokenness here in the city, in situations ranging from divorce to deep psychological problems, so he had a lot to teach us. Basically, we barely skimmed the surface of everything we talked about, but it was one of the most engaging discussions, for me, that we've had so far.
I've been thinking about it a lot this week... See, much of the work that we do here is highly evangelical, and I'm beginning to discover that evangelism may not be one of my gifts. It's difficult for me to strike up spiritual conversations with complete strangers. For a while, I've felt like admitting that makes me a "bad Christian," or at least a bad missionary. A few of the other interns are really good at it, and so I've spent a lot of time feeling frustrated that I haven't been able to contribute as many potential contacts and people to follow up with as the others have.
But during our meeting with Hugo, some things started to click for me. I may not be good at most of the evangelism stuff (which doesn't stop me from trying), but I do care deeply for people. My gift may not be evangelism, but I am passionate about cultivating relationships, about truly getting to know people and being there for them. Listening to Hugo talk about the ways that he has worked with people - restoring marriages, helping women to get out of abusive relationships, and so on - it made me so excited.
It reminds me of the way Paul describes us in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, as ministers of reconciliation:
"All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others."
Sometimes we sing this song that asks the Lord to make us his instruments of peace, and I think that may be the best description of what I want to do with my life. It's broad, but I believe it is a good basis.
Last Monday, we had a meeting with Hugo, who works with the church here. He is also a counselor, and that is what brought us to our meeting with him. Jared had scheduled for us to have a discussion on brokenness, which is really vague, I know, and Hugo was asked to lead the discussion. He has a great deal of experience dealing with brokenness here in the city, in situations ranging from divorce to deep psychological problems, so he had a lot to teach us. Basically, we barely skimmed the surface of everything we talked about, but it was one of the most engaging discussions, for me, that we've had so far.
I've been thinking about it a lot this week... See, much of the work that we do here is highly evangelical, and I'm beginning to discover that evangelism may not be one of my gifts. It's difficult for me to strike up spiritual conversations with complete strangers. For a while, I've felt like admitting that makes me a "bad Christian," or at least a bad missionary. A few of the other interns are really good at it, and so I've spent a lot of time feeling frustrated that I haven't been able to contribute as many potential contacts and people to follow up with as the others have.
But during our meeting with Hugo, some things started to click for me. I may not be good at most of the evangelism stuff (which doesn't stop me from trying), but I do care deeply for people. My gift may not be evangelism, but I am passionate about cultivating relationships, about truly getting to know people and being there for them. Listening to Hugo talk about the ways that he has worked with people - restoring marriages, helping women to get out of abusive relationships, and so on - it made me so excited.
It reminds me of the way Paul describes us in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, as ministers of reconciliation:
"All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others."
Sometimes we sing this song that asks the Lord to make us his instruments of peace, and I think that may be the best description of what I want to do with my life. It's broad, but I believe it is a good basis.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
I don't care who you are - fried Oreos are mad tasty!
It's been raining every day... for the last few days at least. I don't care for rain when my main mode of transportation is walking. On the bright side, it keeps the city from getting too hot. That's nice.
I hope you had a fantastic fourth of July! Mine was awesome. We went out to Coney Island for the afternoon. Most New Yorkers I talked to told me not to do it. They all said it was run-down and dirty. It was both of these things, but it was glorious. We went by the original Nathan's and ate the famous hot dog. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at), we missed the hot dog eating contest. The little amusement park felt like a county fair, but Coney Island is home to the world's tallest ferris wheel of it's kind - it has stationary and swinging cars. We rode in a swinging car, obviously, which was super fun! Then we ate lots of sugary foods that are really bad for you, like fried Oreos - holy smokes! - and wandered through the crowded boardwalk.
We made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge after that, where we managed to find a prime spot on the promenade in front of the Macy's barge, which is where the fireworks are set off. They were the loudest, most beautiful fireworks I've ever seen. But I'm lame, so I didn't take any pictures. Oops.
The fourth was a lot of fun, but I must also share this with you: I miss you. Whoever you are, I miss you!
I hope you had a fantastic fourth of July! Mine was awesome. We went out to Coney Island for the afternoon. Most New Yorkers I talked to told me not to do it. They all said it was run-down and dirty. It was both of these things, but it was glorious. We went by the original Nathan's and ate the famous hot dog. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at), we missed the hot dog eating contest. The little amusement park felt like a county fair, but Coney Island is home to the world's tallest ferris wheel of it's kind - it has stationary and swinging cars. We rode in a swinging car, obviously, which was super fun! Then we ate lots of sugary foods that are really bad for you, like fried Oreos - holy smokes! - and wandered through the crowded boardwalk.
We made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge after that, where we managed to find a prime spot on the promenade in front of the Macy's barge, which is where the fireworks are set off. They were the loudest, most beautiful fireworks I've ever seen. But I'm lame, so I didn't take any pictures. Oops.
The fourth was a lot of fun, but I must also share this with you: I miss you. Whoever you are, I miss you!
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