A New Season

As I mentioned in my second blog post, living in New York City has been an adjustment for us. This has been an exciting new season with some transitions that we expected and others we did not. The Gallery Church is going through a huge season of transition right now. New York City is such a transient city, people move in and out of the city so often. The Gallery has had several key church members move out of the city recently, including our lead pastor Freddy T and his wife, Susan. Freddy and Susan have 4 wonderful children, after having their fourth child last year they realized living in New York City was getting harder on their family. Freddy and Susan sacrificed so much and poured their whole hearts into this city and the Gallery Church. Their lives have impacted so many people in this city, including Brandon and me. After spending much time in prayer Freddy and Susan felt assurance that God was calling them to leave the city, so after submitting his resignation they left for Tennessee a few days before Thanksgiving. Brandon and I, as well as our whole church family, were incredibly sad to see the Wyatts leave, but we are also excited for their family and what God has in store for them in this next season of life. Freddy and Susan left an incredible legacy at the Gallery Church. In one of Freddy’s last sermons he reminded us that Jesus Christ is the true leader of the church, and that remains forever. Praise Him! You can read more about Freddy and Susan’s transition out of the city at www.gallerychurch.com under Recent Blogs.

So what’s next for the Gallery Church? Brandon and the other three elders are prayerfully seeking answers to that question. We have full confidence that God has great things in store for us as we seek to be a healthy church in New York City for the fame of Jesus. The team of four elders and other leaders in the church are currently sharing the responsibilities of teaching, shepherding, and leading the Gallery. Please pray for our pastors as they seek guidance from the Lord. Pray that each individual of the Gallery Church would fully trust the Lord during this season of transition and that we would see spiritual fruit as a result. I will keep you updated on what happens in our future!

On a different note….we have really loved our time in the city the past 2 months. Below are some pictures of some of the amazing experiences we have had together. 

The Wyatts' last Sunday at the Gallery Church

We were unable to travel home for Thanksgiving, so we celebrated with several other Gallery Church members who were in the city. Lots of good food!

We had a great group of friends to celebrate with on Thanksgiving!

Radio City Rockettes

Radio City Music Hall

My wonderful mom came to visit us! We had such a great time

Mamie came to visit too!

The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center

Mom, Mamie, my friend Ashley and me

My cousin Katie lives in the city as well, so my Aunt Mary came up to visit too. We had a great weekend!

We went to the UK game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn!

Our first Christmas tree!

We got free tickets to a Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall

Black Friday shopping at Macy's. This was at 3:30 am. It was so crowded!

The Battle

This past weekend was my favorite experience so far in NYC. It was the Gallery Church retreat and it was an amazing weekend! 71 people drove upstate New York to a YoungLife camp, Lake Champion. It was an amazing time to build relationships with so many brothers and sisters in Christ, which is so vital when beginning to do life in a new place. The weekend was full of excitement – wonderful teaching from God’s Word, an amazing ropes course (where I conquered my fear of heights!), lots of games, and even a sweet proposal! One of the best parts was being back in the mountains, away from the bustle of the City. It was such a sweet time to find rest and peace in the Lord.

Brandon had the opportunity to preach two sermons during the weekend, along with Josh Stahley – a pastor from another church in NYC. Throughout the weekend we discussed the reality of spiritual warfare. This is a topic that is often misunderstood. One quote that was extremely helpful in helping me understand the reality of this war is by Jerry Rankin “Spiritual warfare is not so much about demon possession, territorial spirits, or generational bondage as it is overcoming Satan’s lies and deceits in our own life.” Brandon and Josh talked about how as Christians, we are at war with Satan, the enemy of God. Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of darkness and is working to blind the hearts and minds of millions around the world – in the South, all over the US, the nations, and here in New York City.  Another quote by Jerry Rankin says “The devil is against us, the world is around us, and the flesh is within us, collaborating to defeat us in our Christian walk.” As Christians, we are at war – in a constant battle against the temptations and strategies that Satan seeks to use to pull us further from Christ. I am constantly reminded of my sinfulness and how I often give in to the evil schemes of Satan. Living in New York City, I am often reminded of the darkness of this world. Although New York is an amazing place to live there are so many people here and throughout the world who are losing in this battle against Satan. Satan has shaped our culture to find satisfaction in fame, wealth, sex, friends, and so many other things that cannot truly fulfill us. A relationship with our loving Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ is the only thing that can truly satisfy our hungry souls. If we don’t realize this we will continue to be blinded by the lies of Satan and continue searching for anything and everything to fill the hole in our hearts that can only be filled by God. One question that Brandon asked this weekend that was so challenging for me to reflect on, was “how have you fallen in to the ways that Satan has shaped the culture?” My prayer is that each person who reads this blog would ask themselves this question and see how we have been blinded to Satan’s lies.

It is only by the grace of God that we are able to find victory in this war. When Christ died on the cross, He took on the punishment that we deserve for every sin that we ever have or ever will commit against God. Three days later he rose from the dead – defeating death, sin, and Satan. Our Jesus has already won the battle against Satan and we can experience that victory in our own lives. He gives us the power and the strength to resist temptation, and the forgiveness for when we do sin. When Christ died He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us to be our “helper”. The Spirit gives us the strength to follow Jesus and His Word. Ephesians 6 is an amazing passage that we discussed this weekend that talks about the “armor of God” that God has given us to fight in this battle.

I wish I could share everything God taught me this weekend, but if I did this may be the world’s longest blog post. My prayer for you and me is that we would daily be aware of this battle that we are fighting against Satan, that we would resist the temptations and schemes he uses to pull us from Christ and that we would use the Armor of God to fight in this battle. I pray that we would be reminded that Christ has already won the ultimate victory and we will experience the fullness of that victory when He returns to call His people to be with Him in eternity. Spiritual warfare is so evident in this city so pray that as Brandon and I seek to do ministry here we would not become shaped by the culture (and ultimately Satan), but that God would use us for His glory and to proclaim His truth in this city.

Never a dull moment...

We have been living in New York City for 2 ½ weeks…..which feels like 2 months! It has been a very eventful but exciting time so far in our new home. Brandon has been busy with meetings and beginning to do ministry with the Gallery Church. I have been busy taking care of the cutest 2 year old in Manhattan (I really love my job!) There have definitely been some major adjustments in how we do life….going to the grocery store, commuting to work, doing laundry, falling asleep in the “city that never sleeps”. These everyday things are so much different here than what we were used to in Kentucky.

This past week held some greater challenges than the everyday lifestyle changes. Monday afternoon Brandon started to experience some very intense back pains throughout the day. As he tried to go on with his normal routine the pain kept getting worse and continued into the evening. After going to the immediate care center a few blocks down from our apartment we discovered there was a chance he could have kidney stones. We thought the medicine we received there would help, and it did for a few hours. At midnight he woke up with intense pain that was worse than before.  We decided to go to the emergency room, we chose the first one we found that seemed to be pretty decent. (FYI – “Decent” should never be a word that describes an emergency room that you attend). I figured on a Monday night we wouldn’t have to wait too long to be seen by the doctor….obviously I had never experienced a hospital in NYC.

This was one of the most eventful nights I think we may ever have in this city. As we were waiting in the ER we met so many different people (including one lady with a rainbow, Mohawk wig) and witnessed so many crazy situations. What we thought would be an ER trip that lasted maybe 4 or 5 hours turned in to an all night event. Once we finally got called back to the area where the doctors were, it was more crowded and crazy in there than it was in the waiting room. It looked similar to what you see in the movies when a really bad tragedy happens – beds lined up next to each other in a huge room only separated by curtains. Unfortunately Brandon had to stay in the hospital for 2 days, but finally Wednesday afternoon he came home and began to feel much better. It was a crazy and stressful week for us both, but we are so thankful that Brandon is feeling so much better.

Just like any struggle or trial God taught us a lot through this process. God often reminds us of our human frailty because we so often forget of our complete and utter dependence on Him.  As we seek to do ministry and live in this amazing, busy city we must remember that we are unable to do anything on our own. We must daily die to ourselves and surrender to Christ so that we are constantly fully dependent on Him.

During this past week we were so thankful for people who God has placed in our lives to care for us. Our families, although they are hundreds of miles away, were so helpful at all hours of the night and cared for us so well. Our brothers and sisters in Christ here in the city shared this burden with us. It was such a beautiful picture of the body of Christ to see so many people say they were praying for us or to take care of other needs we had. We are so thankful for the community God has given us here in New York City.

We are excited to see what God continues to do in our lives through this journey. It has been a wonderful and challenging 2 ½ weeks but we feel so blessed to be here serving our God. Next weekend is our church wide retreat, which we are very excited about. Brandon will be preaching 2 sermons on our retreat so pray for him as he prepares this week! Pray that we would continue to fully rely on Jesus in all that we do as we seek to honor Him in this city. 

Our Step of Faith

June 1, 2013 was the happiest day of my life - the day that Brandon and I got married. On that day I remember thinking about what our life together was going to look like for the next few years. We would continue to live in Louisville, KY where I had a wonderful job and Brandon would finish school and look to work at a church nearby. We would continue to live our comfortable lifestyle and enjoy our new spacious apartment. Our plans seemed pretty good...little did I know that in the next few days things would begin to change. 

During our wedding weekend the pastor who married us, Freddy T (Brandon's pastor from NYC), mentioned the idea of us moving to New York City so that Brandon could take the role as the associate pastor at the Gallery church. At first we laughed it off and didn't think it would actually happen. On our honeymoon God laid the thought on both of our hearts. We began talking about the possibility of moving and praying that God would give us direction. Honestly though, I thought we would continue with OUR plans and that NYC was just a fun idea. 

As the weeks went by we continued to pray and God continued to give us a desire for the city - for the millions of people in this city that do not have a relationship with Jesus and some who have never even heard the name of Jesus! As we began to reflect on the Gospel - that Jesus Christ laid down his life so that we may be forgiven for all of our sins and have a relationship with God, our desire to spread this news to the millions in NYC continued to grow. We thought about what was holding us back from taking this step of faith and ultimately we realized that the comforts and ease of Louisville were our main reasons for wanting to stay. As we read Luke 9:57-62 we learned about the cost of following Jesus. In this passage people were verbally saying "Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go" but then they had several excuses for not living in total surrender and things they wanted to accomplish first before they laid down their lives to follow Christ. In vs. 62 Jesus says "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." We realized that as followers of Christ we are called to live in total surrender and be willing to go where God is leading us without looking back or hesitating. 

There were so many unknowns about this move...where would we live? how would we afford rent? where would I work? Despite all of these unknowns we trusted that if we took a step of faith in the direction that God was leading us His plan would play out perfectly. One thing that Brandon shared with me during this time that helped me so much was the truth that if we are following Christ, the joy we will experience from living in obedience to Him will bring us so much more joy than our spacious apartment, a great job, and our easy and comfortable lifestyle. I have experienced this incredible joy as we have begun to transition into life in the city. 

It is still surreal that we are actually living in a 1 room studio apartment in Brooklyn, Brandon has this position at the Gallery, and as of today I am going to be a nanny for a super cute and fun 2 year old. Although this was not the life I expected 4 1/2 months ago, I am so thankful that God's plans are so much greater than ours and that He has led us to this great city. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us and we pray that He uses us here for His glory!  

Here are some pictures from our road trip and our first few days in the city.... 

Leaving Louisville at 4 am in a packed car! 

NYC Skyline

Freedom Tower

There is an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty when you walk down one of the streets near our apt. 

Our new home!