We love any reason to celebrate in this family! Jordan is always looking for an excuse to have a party and eat good food, well mainly cake I think. In fact, he really just had like a week and a half long celebration for his birthday! The guy knows how to LIVE IT UP. His daughter is just like him too. Maria recently got a new calendar for her room and has asked about celebrating just about every holiday listed on there, from President's Day to Ash Wednesday to Australia Day. So, you can imagine the excitement as we approach Easter. Which I do have to say, Easter is probably my favorite holiday. I love that my kids are old enough now to really start to grasp the story of Easter as we do the resurrection eggs each night in the week and a half leading up to Easter Sunday (just last week Moses told a girl working in the bakery that Jesus died on the cross for our sins). I love their excitement to go to church on Easter and be with our church family, and then of course hunt eggs and get candy which fuels much of their excitement. Not only do these family traditions mean so much but also just the hope Easter Sunday brings, the peace it provides, the reminder it gives that no matter what happens in this life I have a Savior who died on a cross in my place, but he did not stay dead! Instead He came back to life 3 days later and walked out of that grave - THAT is worthy of celebration! Knowing that no matter what life throws at me Jesus lives in my heart, took the punishment and death that I deserved, and is even now preparing a place for me in heaven to be with him when I die, this is what brings so much comfort amid the chaos. Needless to say, there is much to love about Easter and we are here for it.
However, in stark contrast with all that I mentioned above that is so worthy of celebrating, this year I was struggling as we approached Easter. I really didn't know what to anticipate moving across the country to a place like NYC but here is how it kind of has worked for me, in a very abbreviated form. The first couple years we were here I had A LOT of pretty bad days. Tears were shed, doubts were had, and many honest (to put it nicely) conversations happened between my husband and me and also between God and me. Now don't forget I was pregnant so I can blame some of this on pregnancy hormones right? Well no matter what you call it there were many early days filled with longing to go back to our "normal" way of life. Some normal ways of life for me had included growing up with space (in every aspect of the word), less noise, less people, and family close by just to name a few. One of my biggest longings was to have my kids' grandparents nearby as I did growing up and have such wonderful memories with them! These longings really made me sad some days. However, as we settled into life in the Bronx with a new routine, a new kid, and a new normal God continued to be so gracious and guide me with such patience. All the glory and praise to Him for His faithful provision for us, even in the midst of my unbelief. Slowly the tears lessened, slowly the longings eased, slowly I adjusted. Thank the Lord for Facetime also! What a blessing technology is in that aspect, to be able to see the grandparents faces on a daily basis. Anyway, I tell people now that probably 75-80% of the time I feel like I've got a handle on this, I'm a New Yorker, I can live in the Bronx. The rest of the time I find myself thinking what in the world is God doing with me here. There are so many ups and downs.
Anyway, back to Easter. As we approached Easter this year I was sad. I was seeing pictures of families together for the weekend, I was again longing for my kids to be able to celebrate with their cousins and grandparents and have those memories as I do from my childhood. I was filled with thoughts of what we seem to be missing out on. Now some of this is being amplified through my daughter. Satan is so crafty and cunning and just knows how to get at us at our most vulnerable points doesn't he? As Maria gets older she is of course becoming more aware of the happenings of day to day life and has recently been making comments about how she never gets to be in Oklahoma to celebrate special events like cousin birthdays and every other holiday besides Christmas. Just the other day we were playing barbies and the story line was about how some of the barbies were going to see their new baby cousin who was just born, which if you don't know this my kids will have a new baby cousin born in Oklahoma in just a few months. So the enemy was at work trying to steal my joy and I was letting him.
But God. He is SO GOOD AND SO FAITHFUL. And boy am I humbled to be able to be here. We had already decided to head back out to our park for church that morning as we have done in past years, before COVID. We also decided to go ahead and put on our own Easter egg hunt for kids, which our church had not done that ever. We had always participated with Full Element Martial Arts and their egg hunt that had been happening in the neighborhood for years. Anyway, God showed up in so many big ways and I want to remember Easter 2021 in our church planting journey forever!
First of all, we had the most beautiful and non-rainy Sunday we've had in weeks! All the prayers that were prayed for good weather, God heard and answered over and abundantly more than we expected. It was a perfect day! Also, God provided greatly through our church members here in the Bronx as they donated eggs, candy, and their time and efforts to stuff over 1,100 plastic Easter eggs for the children in our community. Not only did they provide for the egg hunt but they also showed up hours before church to save our spot at the park, they carried chairs through the park to set up, they prayed with individuals, they registered and greeted new people, they used their personal vehicles to transport food and anything else that was needed, they translated for those who did not understand English, and they went above and beyond to serve our Pelham Parkway community! Also, so many of our faithful partners across the United States gave and donated through gifts and donations for Easter Sunday and to all of you also we are so grateful. I am so proud to be a part of Everlasting Church and this body of believers God is putting together. Even as I went to church that day filled with these old nagging longings that were trying to distract me, God's faithfulness and provision through His church once again overwhelmed my soul and helped fill me with joy. At a little over 150 people present for the egg hunt, we had the most people we have ever had attend an Everlasting Church event! Praise the Lord! As we continue to try and follow-up with the guests we had Easter morning we are praising God for these new people we got to meet, some of whom are now coming on Sunday mornings. Also, many of the new faces we are having on Sunday mornings are different nationalities. That has been one of our prayers from the beginning, that God would build a multi-cultural and diverse church and HE IS! God is at work, He is continuing to open doors for us, and the longer I was out at the park that morning the more I was reminded of what a privilege it is to be here and how exciting it is to be able to see God at work. The fear and sadness of what I was thought I was missing out on once again turned to joy and excitement as I experienced first-hand God at work in the Bronx.
Finally, the absolute best part of the day and a great big testimony to the power of God at work, was that we had 1 salvation! But it is the story behind that salvation y'all that lifts my soul and reminds me that God is still bringing about NEW LIFE. There are so many days that I wish the church planting life would move more quickly. While we are in the day to day grind sometimes my perspective gets so skewed and all I see are the things that are not happening. Maria started pre-k in 2017 and we met a wonderful family who quickly became friends. We love their family. We know the cousins, we know the siblings of the parents, and they are all fantastic. They have been used by the Lord to minister to my lonely heart more than once, without even knowing it. They have been to church countless times. I have personally shared the gospel and had conversations one on one with the mom about making the decision to follow Jesus. She would say she was not ready. It's been a 4 year relationship, one that I am so grateful for, and Easter Sunday morning the mom gave her heart to Christ, hallelujah! Cue all the happy tears! Not only that, but she has jumped right in for our online Bible study and is wanting to learn about Jesus and what it means to follow him. I know that 4 years to see someone come to know Christ might not seem like that much time in the big scheme of things, but when someone's eternity is at stake it feels like forever! Praise God who is so faithful and is still leading people to Himself and creating NEW LIFE.
New York City is a tough place to live. The Bronx is on a whole other level at that. And the thing is, the longer we are here the more people God is leading our way who are in the same boat as our friend who was just saved Easter Sunday. There are so many people who do not have a relationship with Jesus who I know and LOVE dearly, and it is sometimes almost too much to bear. Satan has such a strong hold. Thank goodness for Easter! Thank God for hope! And thank the Lord that He is still alive and well and working right in the middle of the Bronx. Easter Sunday and the salvation of one of my dear friends here was just what this weary soul needed. God added to His family yes, but in the process He reminded me that the effort is worth it, the hard days are worth it, the tears and burdens, the longings and loneliness are worth it. This is a lesson I want to remember for a long time, and for anywhere God leads us. Whoever you are praying for, whoever you are ministering to, whatever your calling, "let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" - Galations 6:9.
I will leave you with one of our favorite pictures of the day! 😂 The little boy just could not take it anymore.....and I totally get it.
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