Monday after a FULL weekend

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend celebrating our country's independence!

This past weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, was busy busy! I soaked in wonderful teaching from a seminar, explored vintage shops in Brooklyn, and played games at the park with Campus Track friends while waiting for the Macy's annual fireworks show, to name a few activities. I was delighted to discover this past weekend several of NYC's treasures outisde of the tourist bubble, one of the main things I love about spending an extended period of time in this fascinating city!

Before I share a few tidbits from each day, I'd like to tell you a little about the seminar we attended Thursday and Friday.

The Summer Project was priveleged to be able to attend a seminar by Sy Rogers, a pastor and speaker who travels around the world teaching on Christians' relationship with sexuality. Our staff prepared us in advance to be shocked, and indeed, hearing his testimony and teaching was unlike anything I have EVER heard before. He mainly focused on sins Christians struggle with in regards to sexuality, but his teaching was relevant to pretty much any sin Christians deal with. Although he did not mince any words, all of his hard teaching went hand in hand with beautifully redemptive messages. His teaching was particularly helpful in learning how to understand the roots of sexual sin and knowing how to answer questions we might encounter from people of different backgrounds (homosexuality, for example) while sharing God's love with college students on campus. One key point Sy made that made an impact on me was how important it is that the Church speak openly and frequently about Christians' relationship with sexuality, in a world that is OBSESSED with sexuality. If the Church does not teach Christians how to think about sexuality, we are learning how to think about it from the world's twisted view, whether we realize it or not. The Lord is doing powerful work through Sy Rogers' story and teaching, and after sitting through his seminar, I heartily wish every church could hear him speak. His website is www.syrogers.com.

Now for the highlights from each day:

Thursday: We attended the Sy Rogers seminar in the morning, and were then given the rest of the afternoon off to spend personal time with the Lord and rest. During this afternoon I discovered a new favorite coffee shop! (Speaking of which,there will be a post to come about all of my coffee shop discoveries in the city, unsurprisingly) It's called 'SNice, and reminded me of my beloved Immaculate Consumption in Columbia, where I have spent many hours reading the Word and journaling. That evening, the campus track ate at a Cuban restaurant together for our weekly cultural dinner. After dinner, a group of us walked through the newly opened High Line Park in Chelsea, one of my hands down favorite sites in the city! It was built on top of an old railway track. I didn't have my camera with me when we went, but I plan to make it back there for a picture trip soon. Until then, here are some photos I got off of the park's web site (http://www.thehighline.org/galleries/images/high-line-park-photos?page=2). Of course, they're much better than any I could take anyways.




We strolled through the park during sunset...so perfect!

Friday: The Sy Rogers Seminar lasted all day, with an afternoon "Women's Time" break during which the campus track women staff led a discussion and prayer time of diving deeper into the applications of Sy Rogers' teaching in our own lives. Friday night a large group of us went to Brooklyn to have a babysitting party at Brandon and Ansley's apartment (a couple who is on staff permanently in NYC, but are actually getting ready to move to Charleston to work on staff at College of Charleston and Charleston Southern...I'm SO excited they'll be closer for me to visit after project!). By babysitting party I mean a large group of us picked up food at a local Italian restaurant and then enjoyed just hanging out together at Brandon and Ansley's while they went out on a date and their sweet 10-month-old Myra Grace slept.

Saturday: Went for a run at the beautiful Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, another new favorite spot in NYC! I think I like it so much because it reminds me in a way of the waterfront park in Charleston. :) Met up with friends for lunch at John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street--best pizza I've ever put in my mouth! (although, we've concluded that all the pizza places have to be great in NYC in order to stay in business since there are so many of them...going back to Dominos once I get home is going to be hard!) My friend Ali and I then went to Brooklyn where we had fun toodling around some vintage shops. After a while we made a visit to Brandon and Ansley's, where we enjoyed chatting with them and playing with Myra Grace. Later that evening, Ali and I met up with a couple other campus track friends and we all went to South Street Seaport,an old fish market overlooking the Hudson River that has been turned into a shopping and dining center. I loved seeing the beautiful old warehouses that had been converted into shops, the brick roads, and the boats on the water. Interesting fact: the first J. Crew store is located there! Again, sadly, I did not have my camera with me, but I surely plan on making another trip (or two) back there before I leave the city!

Sunday: Went with a group to Brooklyn Tabernacle, and got to hear Jim Cymbala preach (shout out to Aunt Mary, who highly recommended that I visit his church while I was in NYC). Brooklyn Tabernacle is famous for their choir, but the service we attended did not have the full choir, although the music was still beautiful. Sunday afternoon around 4 we all headed to a park on the Hudson River to snag a good spot on the grass for fireworks viewing later. Five hours waiting for fireworks in the blazing July heat (little did I know I would experience a summer in NYC as hot as any I've lived through in Columbia)was unappealing at first, but the time passed quickly while we all had fun taking pictures, napping, and playing Catch Phrase and card games. Once the sun went down, we decided the sunset and spectacular fireworks show, combined with the fun we had enjoying each other's company made the five hours well worth it.







And now we begin a new week of ministry! What does the Lord have in store for us this week?