What the World has Lost, Heaven has Gained

We drive to New York City to go to church. It's 52 miles from our parking lot at home to the parking garage down the street from the church. Does that seem a little far to you? It is..........when you are talking about going to church. Most people want to go somewhere just around the corner. I would like that, too. But for some reason we felt led to attend Times Square Church right smack-dab in the middle of New York City. We have been to churches here in New Jersey. We have tried visiting some just minutes away. But we can't shake it......we feel drawn to TSC at this particular time in our lives.

Times Square Church was founded in the 1980's by a small-town boy named David Wilkerson. He felt God call him to minister to prostitutes and drug dealers in Times Square. He actually preached to them on the streets. There are many, many wonderful life-changing stories from people who heard him. He brought the love of Jesus down to a dirty, crowded street and came up with souls rescued and won by the power of the Spirit.

This man might surprise you if you saw him walking down the street. He was small, skinny and had funny hair, but the faith he had in his God brought walls tumbling down.

He and his ministry have had a huge impact on our lives for years. We have been receiving his newsletters (which are basically some of his sermons) since we got married. We have been receiving his daily devotionals by email since we moved here. And now we attend the church that he founded.

We get some funny looks when we tell people where we go to church. I should be used to it! I have been getting funny looks all my life!!! But, there is a reason we drive an hour, one way to church. We are loved, encouraged, and exhorted EVERY time we step foot in the building. We walk out of that building changed. Every. single. time. We walk out able to face another week, and most importantly, resting in the love that Jesus has for us. We appreciate the faithfulness of Pastor David and his staff....they truly want to lead their flock in the ways of the Lord. It's not about them, it's about HIM.

Pastor David passed away suddenly yesterday. We were in shock. We have never met him, but have a kinship with him through our relationship with the Lord. It makes my heart heavy for his family, for the people whose lives he helped change and for the church people. This was a man who impacted MILLIONS of lives. He will be greatly missed. And, fortunately, we will see him on the other side.


You can read the last devotional he posted at this link:
www.davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com
It was made yesterday, the day he passed on to meet Jesus.

Museum of Natural History

Just in case any of you are keeping count, this is the third time we have been to the Museum of Natural History in NYC since we have lived here. Jaron had been asking if we could go back for WEEKS. I discovered through our library I could reserve FREE museum passes.....um, heck yeah!!!! You just have to reserve them several weeks in advance because people snatch up the good ones, like these. So, I reserved them a month ahead of time, wrote it on the calendar, and the kids counted down the days.

Jaron was desperate to see the dino bones again, so that's where we headed first.

The awe-inspiring T-rex!


And the Triceratops........

And last, but not least, the Megalodon teeth. I have tons of great pics from this section of the museum, but it would take me the rest of my life to download them, so I just picked the best ones!


We probably walked the dino section for an hour, discovered this little circular room and decided to rest our feet. It had a fabulous view over Central Park East. The kids have no idea how lucky they are!


There it is!
Jordan wouldn't take a picture of me so I had to do it myself.


After our break, we headed to the Gems and Minerals section. That's what Jordan wanted to see, and we hadn't ever been there, so it worked out well. Aren't they cute looking at that petrified tree stump? I remember going to New Mexico as a kid to see the petrified forest.

Pretty little girl :)

They are standing next to a huge piece of jade.....

And another quartz cave.

Our last stop was the Hall of Ocean Mammals where we got yet another picture of the enormous blue whale that I can't fit into one picture. They did have some stations set up for the kids to touch different sea remains and fossils. I learned something very interesting from it too. Did you know when you hold a sea shell to your ear and you "hear the ocean", it's actually the echo of the blood flowing through your body. WILD!!!!

We had a great time. The museum was pleasantly uncrowded that day. Of course there were plenty of people, but we were actually able to walk around at our pace, stop and read about things and I wasn't a nervous wreck making sure the kids were always in my sight. And I am convinced it is the easiest museum to get to.....we rode the train in with Chris, got on the subway train he takes, he got off at 42nd street and we just stayed on until the museum stop at 81st. There is an entrance into the museum from the sub station. After we finished, we just hopped back on the subway and got off at the theater stop to have dinner with Chris. I was probably the least stressed out I have been in the city with the kids! We are looking forward to going back.......next time it will either be the Museum of Modern Art's free admission on Friday nights or the free admission to the Bronx Zoo on the first weekend of the month!

Supergirl!!!

This is Jordan's first year in Girl Scouts and it has been alot of fun!!! It has been crazy and busy, but a good experience. Tonight the troop participated in the Talent Show.....the theme was Superheroes. The troop decided on the song "Supergirl" by Hannah Montana, I threw together some cute/easy choreography and our friend Zenith, who is also a troop leader, made some ADORABLE Tshirts. All night long the girls got comment after comment on their performance and costumes. They were FABULOUS!!! And I am not just biased! What do you think?!

Good Times with Old Friends

The Friday of our trip to Lubbock was a great day. You saw the pictures of all of Chris's family in the previous post.....that's who we spent our morning and afternoon with. That evening, we got to spend some time with some more special people.

First let me say this: I love my sister no matter what, and she very graciously opened her home to my best friend of all time AND cooked for all of us. Secondly, I got to see someone that I have always considered, and will forever consider, a part of my family.

Ashley Drue Core Nelson.......we met in Kindergarten (she was a.m. and I was p.m.), became buddies in Mrs. Prater's first grade class, and forged a solid BFF relationship in Mrs. Rigdon's third grade class. That relationship is still going strong even after attending separate high schools and colleges, getting married and having kids, and us moving half way across the country. I could not wish for a better best friend. Ever.

Since both of our last names began with a "C", we were always on the class roles like this: Marcy Clayton, Kenny Cole, Michael Cook and Ashely Core. It was that way the entire time at Parsons Elem, and probably even at Evans JH, too. In fact, I have to credit my success as a musician to Ashley.

In the 6th grade, we had a fabulous year of choir with Mrs. Linda Sudduth, and when it came time to do our choice cards for 7th grade, I was in a pickle. I was positive I wanted to sign up for choir, not band like everyone else was. I was the only one who was signing up for choir....which made me feel like a looser. BUT, but, but.....my Ashely, she signed up for choir too, and that made my decision complete. Ashely was in choir, I was in choir and that was all that mattered. If Ashely hadn't signed up for choir, I think I might have given into the peer pressure and done band or orchestra...therefore changing the entire course of my collegiate and professional career. Ashley always bragged on me for the beautiful voice I had, but she gave me courage and inspiration.

I try to pray faithfully for my kids every day. I will admit, sometimes I fail miserably. But one thing I always pray for is that they will be blessed with a friend in their lives like I was blessed with Ashely. Not only was Ashley a blessing, but so was her family. There was never a time that I was influenced negatively by any person in her household. They are all loving, Christian people who took care of me like I was one of their own. Mr. and Mrs. Core and Alyssa are some of the most precious people I have ever known, and I long for a similar relationship for my own children.

The kids and I were so blessed to spend time with Ashely, her husband Cody and their kids Carley and Corey. I cannot believe that we are all grown-up now, with kids of our own. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ashley and I will be friends forever, and what's even better, we will spend eternity together.

Ashley, thank you for being such a good friend. There have been plenty of times that I have failed you, but you still love me anyway. I miss you terribly, and think of you often. Especially all the good laughs we have had together!! Long live Evans Show Choir!!!!!!!!!


Claire wanted an American Girl doll like Jordan. Candace bought her one at Michael's and she toted that doll around constantly!

Jordan and Carley. Carley was a little shy at first, but Jordan is does such a good job of making people feel welcomed and taking little girls under her wing. Carley kept telling Ashely, "I want to play with her (Jordan)." It just thrills my heart that I have a picture of our daughters together. Ashely and I talked about these kinds of things constantly as kids!!! What a joy to see it fulfilled!

Those kids jumped and jumped and jumped......

Taco time!!!!!


Ashley, Cody, Corey and some awful person that I don't know.....oops, I mean Wes!

Claire and Carley. So cute!

Still hugging!

I want to print this and frame it. All of the kids, and SUCH a good pic.

Jumping with Corey.....

More tacos......

Sweet picture of my BFF with my kids :)

I think we all agree that we feel like sisters :)

Me, Cody and Ashley. Cody is a firefighter and a dream come true for Ashely....he is even better than Kirk Cameron, huh Ash?!?!?!

Another good one.

Oh, I love this one too!!!!!!!!!