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.