Let it Snow Let it Snow Let is Snow

I am busy packing and getting ready to leave the city for the holidays, but I thought I would do one last quick blog post. I just had to mention that I got a new camera!! It is my dream camera and I am so super stoked about it. It is a Nikon D40X. I was able to get an amazing deal on it. I know absolutely nothing about it, but am trying to practice and hopefully will take a photography class in January. I have always loved taking pictures, but I think my love might be growing even greater. I love capturing places, people, and memories. I love that even in the changes of life you can carry a memory with you through a photograph. I think it just might be my new hobby. So even though I am really bad at it right now, I thought I would share some pictures I took of the snow we got this weekend.

Ok this photograph is not of the snow, but I was taking picture of everything at my friends Christmas party the other night and I just thought this picture was so fun and colorful

And now for the snow...

This is a picture of Great Lawn taken from Belvedere Castle. This is one of my favorite places in Central Park to lay out and read in the summer. It looks quite different this time of year:-)

These are the brownstones on my block that I think are so pretty!

And last not but not least is the view from my living room window. We actually have a great view of some backyards and the buildings on Central Park West. Pretend that the fire escape is not there and I love our little city view!

I am sure I will be posting a lot of pictures on this blog as I practice my photography. Just be patient with me, because I really know nothing!

Oh, before I go I do have to share about what I did yesterday! Yesterday I had the opportunity to help feed 650 homeless people a special Christmas breakfast at one of the soup kitchens in the city(that happens to be owned by one of my co-workers parents). It really was one of my favorite moments since I have been here. It was so humbling to have the opportunity to serve my neighbors in this way. I could not help as I was there to look at each one of the faces and think about their stories. I don't know their stories, but I know that each of them have one. Their story is very different than my story, and I know that I would learn so much from each one of them. I struggle so often with feeling so undeserving of my life, but I know that it is by God's grace that I am where I am and I have what I have. I hope to have more opportunities to serve my neighbors in this way. If you do not volunteer somewhere in your community I would challenge you to do so. I will confess that I complained in my head as I woke up early on a Saturday morning, but I would not trade my day at the soup kitchen for anything and giving up time and sleep is a SMALL sacrifice to pay in order for us to love others and serve others in the same way that Christ has loved and served us!

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas. Prayfully my flight will get out early tomorrow morning. We have had quite the weather, but hopefully it has all passed! I will be gone for about 2 weeks making stops in Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Burdened

I can't believe Christmas is a week away. This has been the fastest Christmas season ever. Life has been super busy with work, Christmas parties, Christmas shopping/creating, and just life. My friend Erin came last week for 5 days, which was so fun, and my friend Kim and her mom are coming tomorrow. I can't say "no one ever comes to visit me" being that I feel like I pretty much I have a revolving door. I am ok with that most of the time. As much fun stuff as I have been doing I just have not felt like blogging. In a weird way I haven't felt like I have had much to say. As fun and exciting as the Christmas season is, I have felt more burdened this season. I feel like I should be the opposite of burdened since this is the season we focus so much on the birth of Christ. And the birth of Christ brought the death the of Christ which brought freedom for me. I shouldn't carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. That is what Christ is for. He says to lay our burdens at his feet. He wants to carry them. He is in control. I wish I always believed that. I have felt really burdened about a lot. I have a lot of friends who are hurting right now. I am hurting right now. Hurting with broken hearts, hurting with broken relationships, hurting with family illnesses and deaths, hurting from past sin, hurting from the loss of a job, hurting over personal struggles. I hurt for them. And then just walking around New York I have constantly faced with hurting people. People who look like they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, people who are hungry and homeless, people who on the outside look extremely successful, but run to pleasures of the world to fill their empty hearts. Sometimes it just seems unfair to me that some people just seem to have really easy lives where everything goes there way and some people just have one hard thing after another. I don't get it. I know God is sovereign. I believe that, but the pain is still there. The pain is still there for my friends and the pain is still there for me. I have thought about Heaven a lot lately. What is it going to be like? What will it be like to have not more brokenness, no more hunger, no more pain. One of my favorite passages in the bible is Revelation 7:16-17. The last part of 17 says, "and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." I love the picture of God doing that, of there being no more tears because there will be no more sadness. As much as I want the opportunity to be a wife and a mother and want to experience so much more of life I have often longed for heaven and for that day of bowing at the feet of Jesus. This world really is temporary and it feels that way to me more and more.

So in some ways this Christmas season I am more thankful for the birth of Jesus than ever, because I know that he was born in that manger so that he could die. He could die for me. He could die for my friends and family. As I meditate on the birth of Jesus this Christmas I want to let go of the burdens and fight to hand them to my savior.

"You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Luke 2:13-14

Happy Birthday Jesus!

This past Saturday we had a Birthday Party for Jesus. This is one of our big events that we do every year at Redeemer. Although this event is a lot of work for our team, we LOVE it. It is so fun to gather with our children and families and focus on this special birth during the Christmas Season. The children get so excited to have a huge carnival birthday party, sing Happy Birthday, blow out candles, and eat cake ALL for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One little 2 year old boy said afterwards, "can it be Jesus' Birthday everyday?"

We have carnival games, pinatas, face painting and crafts!

We partner with Hope for New York to do a service project. This year we made hygiene kits for families who are homeless and we collected winter clothes for underprivileged children in the city. Our children were so excited to have the opportunity to help others. It is so fun to see them begin to grasp this concept at such a young age.

Before singing Happy Birthday and eating cake and goodies, we had a time of singing Christmas carols and a bible story. The children had the opportunity to watch and be a part of the actual Christmas story being acted out.

It is so fun to see these children soak up this celebration and really walk away learning more about the birth of Jesus and why we celebrate it. It is good for me as well to be reminded once again the real reason we celebrate Christmas!

Happy Birthday Jesus!