Sundays in Brooklyn...

most of the time they look very similar...get up at 9, get out of the house by 10:30, get to church by 11, sometimes stand in line, sometimes walk right in, connect with about 4 or 5 people who sit in the same location each week, enjoy the ministry at the noon service, eat some lunch, then come back for the 3:30 service (usually something different at this service), then leisurely make my way back home after 5:30, maybe go uptown for a bite, or occasionally meet with a friend.

Today is Sunday...and it's a little different. I got up early and made it to the 9:00 service (not at 9) in time for the choir (still blows my hair back every week) and the preaching. There was a guest today (Pastor Cymbala gets lots of opportunities to preach elsewhere), Pastor Gary Simons from Bermuda. He must have a special relationship with the church because he speaks at a number of the meetings they have on a quasi-regular basis. I heard him at the Singles meeting about 6 weeks ago, and he's a solid witness and man of the bible. So, today was awesome! And now...

I'm sitting in a restaurant before I head up to tutor my 7th grader, Kenny, who is only able to meet with me on the weekends because his parents both work and he attends an afterschool program for sports. But, his folks knew he needed help in math and reading, so they signed him up for tutoring. I meet with this boy every Saturday for 3 hours, and about every 3rd Sunday afternoon for 2.5 hours, and it's not easy, but by God's grace we make it through. So, today is one of our Sundays (truthfully, we'll only end up having 3 or 4 Sundays, so it's not too bad.) After Kenny, I'll commute from Queens to the far upper west side of Manhattan to a predominantly hispanic neighborhood called Washington Heights, where I'll tutor my 9th grader, Lenise, from 6 to 9. She's desperately in need of math tutoring, so I have to see her about 3 times a week. All this ends in another 3 weeks, since it's contractual and tied to the school calendar. Thus, I'm writing this blog entry...

As I sat in worship this morning, in the balcony 'cause I was late, and alone, I got a true sense of what I've been doing here in the past four months as an extension of God's love to the people in my circle of influence. I was humbled, again, and became aware of needing and wanting to finish strong. (In education, everyone gets weary at this time of the year. Motivation falls off, attitudes start to present themselves in more and more negative ways, and it just becomes easier to "opt out" of giving our best. So, I know, I need help to finish well.) I'm going to try to profile my students in this blog over the next few weeks and also to share a slice of life on a weekly basis (or so) in order to get your prayer support in a more specific way. I appreciate it so much, and am thankful to be partnering with you in this great venture of life. This is the beginning of my Brooklyn Blogging, and I hope it will encourage you to pray and be strengthened by what you hear God is doing in NYC. Time is always short, and all the more so today since I'm on a commute, more or less...so I'll close for now. I am blessed and thrilled for God to use me here. As you pray, please ask God to provide for more direction after the contract is finished. I need to either find a summer job, or a fulltime position in a place of God's choosing, and it's unclear to me at this point. Thanks again.
Until next time,
Larissa