Supercenter Here We Come...

So I have been in New York City 3 1/2 weeks now and guess what I did today?  I went to the FAMILIAR, WONDERFUL store of TARGET! okay, so that is a normal thing to go to Target in the suburbs, but not in NYC.  I mean there are no such things as "supercenters" here.  So last night I was hanging out with some girls and we were talking about how much we love us some Target and we just decided that we would go to one!  The closest one is in Brooklyn, which is actually just an easy express train away!  We originally said we were not going to buy anything, but would just go and look at the clothes and such.  Oh well you better believe when we saw the prices we started loading up our cart!  By the end of the trip you couldn't even see when pushing the cart because it was so piled up!  Seeing those prices made us realize how expensive Manhattan really is!  The funny thing was we had to get this stuff home!  It was quite interesting getting through the small subway entrance with all our goods.  I have to admit though it was totally worth it.  For me just being in a familiar place was great!  It was like a weird comfort to me to see the Red walls and the Target symbol!  I know that sounds crazy, but I just realize how unfamiliar everything is to me here.  We walked outside some too just to see Brooklyn and it really felt like we were in Atlanta or someplace like that.  I haven't really thought about it, but in Manhattan you never see the horizon of the sky because of all the tall buildings.  In Brooklyn we felt like the sky was so big!  I am already getting use to always been around tall buildings and congestion and so it really is a weird feeling to have that open air!    Both places are crazy busy all the time.  It is fun going to these places, but overwhelming at the same time.  It just amazes me continually how many people there are in this city!  One thing I love is that it really is people of all types.  I pass people all the time from all different countries and from all different economic backgrounds.  It really is a "hodge podge" of people.  There is no such thing as a "norm" here.  I actually really love that!  I love that people are from all over the world.  I love that I have the opportunity to interact with the wealthy and the poor.  I love that when you meet someone they always have a story of why they are here!  It is such a fascinating place.  I have really been praying specifically the last few days that the Lord would really use me in this city!  I don't want to be here just to take from the city.  I want to be a giver.  I want to serve this city.  Sometimes I think, "God how are you going to use me here."  Right now I feel like I am just trying to get through the day alive:-), but I know that God has a plan for me here.  I want to be a witness to the little man I pass everyday on my way to work who sits in a hot newsstand and makes his money by selling magazines, candy, and soda , I want to be a witness to the people on the overcrowded subways, I want to be a witness to the celebrity's who live all around me.  I know that it will take time, but I am praying for relationships to form and I am praying that I would be bold with the gospel as I live my life here.  Out of all the people in this influential city, there really are so few Christians.   It is really sad to walk around this place and just see the lostness of the world engrained in this city.  There are a lot of hurting people here and a lot of people who are searching for a savior and don't even know it!  Anyways, I think of Isaiah in Isaiah 6 where he says, "Here am I! Send me."  I am here and I really do want to be used here.  So that was a little tangent, but that is just what has been on my heart the last few days.  

ta ta for now!

Bethany