New York, Day 3

These days are packed. Last night I thought back to the morning, "was that really today?!"

Yesterday morning my Mom, Gina and I took an early breakfast and all headed over to the Brooklyn Tabernacle by Subway (we have had our share of subway riding! You start to get the hang of it.) We got to be part of an amazing church service. I really enjoyed singing some songs that I haven't heard for quite awhile. "Let the Glory of the Lord, rise among us" done by a full Gospel choir and a tight band, it was quite amazing. And there were songs I hadn't heard that were good to listen to. The building was amazing, the former theatre they meet in, just beautiful. Awesome artwork, some related to scripture passages written under them, some depictions of happenings in the life of the church. But the amazing thing was the presence of the Holy Spirit that morning. They had a guest preacher from Seattle who REALLY took it home, speaking on Holiness, and what is to be kept pure and holy before God. He hit modern issues head-on, with a strong stance, and it was very individually convicting.
The conclusion of that for me was that I wouldn't have missed it for anything. To be in the heart of New York, having seen the lights and steel and concrete and advertisements and ALL of it, and then to be in the midst of hundreds of voices bringing down the house for the Glory of Jesus...can't beat it.

The service was so good we lost track of the time and got a little behind the group, but we made it to the Manhattan School of Music before rehearsal started. It was a privelege to be able to rehearse there, and we had a really productive and fun final tour rehearsal for 2 1/2 hours.

(I said that you get the hang of subways after awhile, except that my mom and I missed one on the way back. The whole group had got on and it was crowded so we moved to another door. Just as one of our Violists hopped on the train the doors closed and we watched everyone speed away. We couldn't stop laughing. We knew our way back to the hotel fine at this point.)

Hmm, I must hurry, we're meeting together soon.

That evening we took the Circle Line Hudson cruise, on the top deck of a cruise boat, and got to see the Statue of Liberty (first time ever for me). Took quite a few pictures, many of which I'm happy with. I'm quite spoiled with my Mom's camera, among it's assets being a nice zoom lens. I'm really hoping to ask a parent for their laptop so I can share some with you, haven't had a chance to do that yet. We had a commentator on almost the whole cruise, detailing the sites and history and statistics and $ of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Jersey City (which we saw on the other side of the Hudson.) The Sky was beautiful (more beautiful than any of the cityscapes in my opinion, althught they were impressive), we got to see nice cloud textures and the sunset, and the moon over Manhattan. Good conversations, dumb dance parties, jokes and laughs.

After this, those who didn't get food on board went out for food, and a group of us went for Korean food. We had a few Koreans with us, one who led the way (advice: go to Korean food WITH Koreans, they will help you out) it was very enjoyable, and I'm fulll enough that I don't need breakfast.

God is good and His gifts are plentiful. Friends, don't forget that we live like Kings. Few if any are the reasons we have to complain. I also find that God can point out in me something he needs to work on in me every day. A shortcoming or misplaced desire. It's tiring and frustrating sometimes, but He is faithful.