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Archive for March, 2009
Blizzard Warning!
Not in New York, its 60 and sunny there. I’m in Hutchison, Kansas and there is a blizzard warning here. The missions event I was to speak at tonight has been cancelled. I should be speaking a few times on Sunday though.
Check out how crazy the weather is here.
Update: There is now 18 inches on the ground. Crazy! March 28th
What can New Yorkers learn from Daniel Boone? “Pretend not to notice”
A very good friend recently sent me an excerpt from a biography on Daniel Boone that he is reading as an encouragement to us living in such a small space. Encouraging and entertaining it was indeed. Below is an extended quote from the excerpt that he sent. Keep in mind while you read that we currently have two babies that sleep in our room with us. Very soon however we plan to move all our little one’s into the same room as Susan and I take the smaller room.
Rebecca and Daniel first lived in a cabin on Squire Boone’s property. After Daniel’s brother Israel died of consumption, they took in his sons Jesse and Jonathan and raised them as their own. Nine months after their wedding a son named James was born May 3, 1757, and another son named Israel was born January 25, 1759. Rebecca would have eight more children over the next quarter century, and she would later adopt six children of a widowed brother…
The house Daniel built on Sugartree Creek, when he was about twenty-two years old, was more substantial than a simple cabin. The logs were hewed flat and fit snugly together. A big fireplace and chimney of soapstone and wood provided heat for cooking and living and much of the light in the evenings…The house measured eighteen by twenty-four feet and, according to a resident in the area at the time, was still standing a century later.
Settlers on the frontier were accustomed to living in small spaces. There could be little privacy with children of all ages, babies crying, someone breaking wind or coughing. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries people slept two and three to a bed, when there was a bed. Four or five children might sleep on the same cot or pallet. Because of lack of space and lack of beds, they slept packed together on ticks stuffed with leaves or straw or corn shucks. In cold weather the several bodies in bed together helped them keep warm in a corner or lot far from the fireplace.
There are many accounts of travelers stopping for the night at cabins or houses along their way. Common courtesy of the time and place required that visitors be invited to dinner and to stay the night. In a cabin where ten people normally slept the visitor would be invited to unroll his blanket near the fireplace and undress or half undress in the dark or semidark. A kind of privacy was created by everyone ignoring each other. And even if you woke in the night and heard the sounds of lovemaking nearby, you pretended not to notice. That the crowding in the cabins and little houses was no hindrance to lovemaking is proved by the number of children born on the frontier to families such as the Bryans and Boones. Judging by the birthrate, the hardships and crowding seem to have been a spur to fertility, not a restraint.
My friend who sent this to me is sympathetic as he has twins and five children total. Encouraging and entertaining indeed!
Pray for Susan, the babies, and the people sitting next to them on the plane…
Susan will be flying out in just a few hours with all threee babies. She’s on the same flight as my sister’s family so she’ll have lots of help. She was feeling kind of sick yesterday and today. Say a prayer that the flights to and from go well. Also, if you want to see Susan and the babies and you live near Clarksville, TN, you can stop by my parents house this Saturday from 10am-Noon.
I fly out Thursday to speak at a missions conference in Kansas @ Crestview Bible Church, where a great friend and mentor of mine serves as the Pastor.
Susan and I are both looking forward to getting a little more rest and a chance to get out of the city and breath a little. Things are going very well and we are truly loving city life, but to appreciate it the most, you’ve got to get out and breath a little.
Love in the Elevator
It was bound to happen sooner or later living on the 19th floor in an elevator building. A couple of weeks ago we heard about a few people that had gotten stuck in the elevator for about a half an hour. Then we got an announcement that they would be working on one of the elevators on Wednesday, all day. So last night after spending a wonderful evening out on the town with the Samuels (my sister and her family who are visiting), Susan, Jack and I got on the elevator to head back to our house (as Jack calls it…he actually calls our whole floor our house…maybe because he gets to run up and down our hallway…I don’t know). There was another couple that got on with us. It was way past Jack’s bedtime. He was delirious. He had just told our door man, “Night night Gregorio, I love you.” The couple on the elevator with us got off on the 14th floor and Jack told them “night, night”. And then the elevator began to go up and and then it stopped. It was not on a floor. Stuck. In the Elevator. I’ve always imagined what it would be like to be stuck in an elevator…now I know. It wasn’t too bad. For whatever reason, we were able to take in stride with laughter. We built a little pallet for Jack and he laid down…sort of. A good friend called…and that was a lot of fun catching up with him. 40 minutes later…yes 40 minutes, the elevator resumed its trip to the 19th floor. Lillie and Elliott were sound asleep being watched by the baby siter. It was not so bad just the three of us…but if had been twelve of our neighbors with us…yeah that probably would not have been the best.
Gallery Church Member up for the “Best Job In the World”
I’ve blogged before telling about the really talented people that are a part of our church. Angie Orth is one of those talented people. Susan and I have really enjoyed getting to know Angie of late as she’s over @ our place every Wednesday night for Growth Community.
Angie is up for what they are calling “The Best Job in the World” which entails living on a island off of Austrailia for six months and blogging about it. Angie is in the top 50 applicants out of 34,000….pretty impressive….we think. Next, they will narrow it down to 10 plus one wild card winner (whoever gets the most votes is the wild card winner). There are only six more days for voting so go ahead and love on Angie and cast your vote today (you can vote 1 time from as many email addresses that you’ve got every 24 horus).
You can read more about it here.
You can read what the New York Post says about her here.
You can should vote for her here.
You can read Big Apple Angie’s blog here.
Way to go Angie! We are casting our votes!
The Dilemma
The very first baseball uniform I ever wore had yankees written on it. It was my tee-ball team. I loved being a yankee. My dad’s little league team was the yankees. It was the only tee-ball team I played for.
Tee-ball eventually came to an end and those days of my dad yelling at me and the umpires began…little league. I loved every minute of it! Though the Yankees were not an option in little league, the Mets were. And so, I was on the Mets from age 7-12…and that sealed my loyalty to the blue and orange boys from Queens. I loved Darryl Strawberry and got to see the Mets play the Cardinals in St. Louis the summer of 1987. Some of my greatest childhood moments were spent chasing those New York Mets players all over the hotel and downtown St. Louis streets those few days.
Several years later, Darryl Strawberry through several trades ended up in the Yankee pinstripes. I then got to see the Yankees play the Tigers in their historic old Detroit stadium. Strawberry was as awesome as ever. (Yes I know the guy turned out to be a coke addict…but that is beside the point right now).
So I moved to New York this past October as a long time Mets and Yankees fan only to learn that you are not allowed to be a fan of both teams in New York. Thus a dilemma is presented.
The Amazing Mets — or — The Bronx Bombers
I really thought I’d lean toward the Yanks, but here lately I’ve been feeling the Mets.
What do you think? Who should I go with? I’ve got to choose one.
A little taste of the Big Apple…
Tonight we had worship in our new space for our evening gathering. We are especially excited about this space as it will not only house our PM Gathering, but also the Salt Art Space and our offices. As you can see, the roof deck has an amazing view of the Empire State Building, and the Flatiron Building (no pictures of the flatiron). Please pray that God would help us to quickly get this space fixed up ready for full on use. Pray today that we’ll be able to fill this place up and overflow it with new believers!
Interview with Corey and Leann Boyd
Corey, Leann, and Ezra Boyd
Corey and Leann Boyd are some dear friends of ours and choice servants of our King. They are planning on joining us in our church planting efforts here in NYC this summer. Below is a short interview that shares some of their story. We are so grateful for their willingness to make this sacrifice for God’s purposes.
Tell us a little about yourself and your relationship with Freddy T. and Susan.
L: We have both known Freddy and Susan since high school. Probably Freddy more than Susan, but Freddy has always been a little more visible and outgoing. Also, I went to U.T. Martin with Freddy and we attended the same church there. Susan’s a little quieter like me, I guess. It’s hard for two quieter people to get to know each other, but in the time Freddy T. pastored our congregation at First Baptist, I have gotten to spend a lot more time talking with Susan and have come to love her dearly! We consider Freddy and Susan among our best friends and are so excited to be working with them in the future!
C: I have known Freddy since I was in 9th grade (the same year I met my wife.) Freddy was kind to me even though he was a senior and I was a freshman, which made a big impression on me. Susan, I’ve known I don’t know how long; forever, I think. She also has always been kind to me. I think Freddy and I have watched each other grow in Christ from a distance for several years, but in the past couple of years have become close friends. Right now, we are missing all the Wyatts and looking forward to the big move.
How did you hear about the opportunity to be a part of church planting work? What was your first impression?
C: We heard about the opportunity a few months ago in August when Freddy T. asked us to consider coming along to help plant churches in the NYC area. I personally had previously entertained the notion only vaguely. Working to literally, physically build the local body was something I knew a had vision for, but had not intended on following through. The moment he asked us I knew I needed to consider the idea with urgency.
L: The Lord has been working in my heart over the last few years to build a love for the church and a desire to grow my local church. I am excited about building the church however I can and have always been open to the idea of planting a church. I will say that when I have envisioned doing church planting work, I have never imagined that I would be called to New York City! My first thought was, “The city will swallow me alive!” The job seems too overwhelming for me, which is why it is exactly the right thing to do at this point in time. I am excited to see how God will accomplish His work in spite of me.
A move to New York City is a major undertaking. What have you done to prepare for the move and what do you still have left to do?
L: We recently made a trip to REI and picked up some thermals to help us brave the weather.
You can say it’s not much colder in New York, but here I don’t have to walk many places.
It has been an exciting challenge to try and fit 2300 square feet of stuff into the space we anticipate having in our new apartment. With the help of the church, we have done as much work to our old house as our hearts and hands can bear and it recently went up on the market. We are going to have to sell or, as a last resort, rent out the house.
Also, we have to set a budget and find a place to live.C: The main things we have been doing are searching for a job, finding an apartment, and purging our material possessions. We have been living with my in-laws and cleaning the house in our spare time. Spiritually, I am trying to prepare by reflecting on the aspects of my character that were wrought from my sinful heart and release them to Him; things like shyness, self-centeredness, elitism and other antisocial tendencies must go. Also, I am attempting to memorize the Revelation of Jesus Christ as given to his bondservant John. Mentally, I am preparing by researching educational theory and learning Korean from one of the girls in my 4th grade class.
How best can the blog readers pray for you guys today?
Pray that He will bring a buyer for the Pattons’ and our houses. Pray that we will find good jobs. Pray that we will be immediately useful to the church upon our arrival. Pray that we can find affordable housing.
Please be praying for the Boyds and while you are at it…leave them an encouraging comment on the blog here.
