I have to begin by having a tiny pity party. My dad, my dad who totally rocks, is in the hospital with a major leg infection. He has been on an IV of agressive antibiotics for 24 hours now. His knee and up to his groin are swollen, red, painful, and extremely hot. A blood clot has been ruled out, and they are considering cellulitis. If it is cellulitis, then it should be clearing up rather quickly. I'm not exactly sure what else they are considering. I'm fully expecting the doctor to come in tomorrow and get to the bottom of this.
So, why am I haviing a pity party? After all, pity parties are generally selfish in nature.
The pity party is in full force because I can't be there with him. He is in the hospital and he absolutely hates being there. My dad DOES NOT sit around; he is up at 4:30AM each morning, and he moves around like the energizer bunny all day long. If I were there I could go sit with him and we could talk, play around on facebook, and watch TV.
Since our move, this has been the first time that I feel horribly far away. I am praying for him and believing for a complete healing; however, that is all I can do at this time.
I love you, dad!
We decided to try a church in Manhattan today. It was to start at 6PM, so we planned to go early and do some sightseeing and, of course, eat!
We planned to take the train, but, in the end, we decided it was a nice day to drive in. We were in Manhattan in under a half an hour and we went straight to the restaurant we had chosen...S'MAC. It is an adult mac n' cheese hot spot. This place leaves every taste bud one has thoroughly pleased and begging for more.
I chose the Buffalo Chicken Mac n' Cheese, my daughter chose the Hamburger, my husband chose Indian, and my son chose the classic American Mac n' Cheese. The place was packed with happy customers, and we were no exception!
With full bellies, we began to explore some of the streets in the East Village. It's certainly a unique place. It was so crowded. I was thinking to myself, "What in the world are all of these thousands of people doing out in this heat on a Sunday afternoon?" I guess I was one of the thousand, so I could've asked the same question of myself.
We began to sweat profusely. It got miserably hot, and with such large crowds, I began to get somewhat disgusted each time we had to stop to cross the street and someone's sweaty arm would rub against mine.
We decided to drive to China Town. That is really something to see!
Again, thousands of people crammed into blocks of buildings, restaurants, apartments, and other essential places. It was extremely difficult to drive through this area because the traffic was horrid.
China Town was unique and definitely a place worth visiting. We love chinese food, so we will definitley be going back when we aren't so full from mac n' cheese!
Finally, it was almost time for church to begin. I was starting to get nervous. Anytime I prepare to enter a new church I begin to feel some anxiety.
Before I discuss entering the church, let me explain our surroundings.
My husband, kids and I were walking through the East Village. I don't know how many blocks the East Village consists of, so I am only speaking of our exact area. We were several blocks away from the church. I was looking around me. Everywhere I looked, I saw the same thing. Try to picture it:
There were thousands of people. It was such a busy place. The traffic was unreal. There were men holding hands with men and vise versa with women. All of the bars had their doors open and massive amounts of alcohol were being consumed. People were sitting on the sidewalks drinking in front of the bars, people were visibly publicly intoxicated. Some people were just passed out on the street. I was just watching all of the people. I was taking it all in.
We saw the church sign. Right in the middle of everything I was describing was a church! We walked down about seven stairs until we reached the door to the church. It looked like we were walking down into a basement. I opened the door and we walked in. The greeters were friendly and we conveniently chose the second row from the back.
I looked around at all of the people. They were smiling and conversing. Once the music started, I began to try to calclate the number of the people in the basement church. I estimate just over 100 people. As everyone was praising and worshiping the Lord, I became a bit disheartened. Just outside the door to the church are thousands of people. The sin was rampant. I described it to my husband and daughter as "thick." As we were walking to the church, the sin was so "thick" that I could literally feel it. It was weighing me down. All of that was taking place three feet from the door to the church.
I redirected my focus to the music. It was beautiful and everyone was just loving on the Lord. The pastor began speaking and the sermon was powerful! It was about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit is power; it is a free gift. It was awesome!
Church was over, and my family and I opened the door of the church to exit. We climbed the seven or so steps and we were back on the sidewalk...surrounded by the thousands of people that I referred to before. I stopped and looked around. My heart was breaking. These people, each and every one of them, need Jesus. They have to be shown His love. They deserve the opportunity to experience the love and peace of our Savior.
God's mercy and grace is magnificient. He doesn't say to us, "Go get help from your addictions. Fix yourself. Try to get better and then come to me and I'll try to do the rest."
NO! He says, "Come as you are!" It doesn't matter what you're doing, what you've done, or what you are planning to do! He loves us all the same. Those that choose to follow Him and love Him, and those that want absolutely nothing to do with Him...His love is the same for all.
He just asks that we come as we are!
We were walking back to the car and I saw a mission field. There is a battle raging on the streets, and it's not just the streets of NYC! Satan wants to win this battle. He is the author of lies, and he roams this earth trying to destroy us. The Bible says he is seeking who he can devour. We can't let him win the battle. We MUST view this world as our mission field and tell others about the Love of God. Show others kindness. Show them grace. We must be the hands and feet of Jesus. That is what we are called to do.
The Bible says that the road to heaven is narrow and few find it, but the road to hell is large. I believe that more than ever tonight. I walked the streets of NYC and watched the masses. I witnessed thousands upon thousands of people living sinless and hopeless lives. I walked into the church and participated with about 100 others in worhipping our Lord.
It's disheartening. It burdens me, and I know I have to do something about it.
We sang a song tonight and the chorus was:
God makes beautiful things out of dust.
God makes beautfiul things out of us.
All we have to do is choose Him and COME AS WE ARE!
No comments:
Post a Comment