NYC '13: St. James Presbyterian Church

We got in to our subway groups and walked a few blocks down church street to the subway. We passed a large farmers market along the way. We boarded the B train towards the Bronx. It was 7:30 am so the morning commute was in full swing Our train arrived as we walked down the stairs, so we rushed on to the already full train and grabbed on to the closest available bar. We all made it! 

Our first ride was a long one. We rode all the way to the upper west side of Manhattan, 135th street. 

We ten walked a few blocks north to St. James Presbyterian Church. Now next to this church there is alleyway that is over underground rivers. Because of this it becomes overgrown and water puddles up. The church often gets fines fm the city for "breeding Mosquitos". So our job was to come and help clean up this area. We met up with Mark Hill from the church  to talk about or plan of action. He unformed us that the delivery of topsoil that was supposed to arrive hadn't yet. He challenged us to keep a great attitude anyway. The devil likes to think:  "What can I do to make you stop doing good things?"  

So we grabbed our gloves and trash bags and headed to the alley to get started. We pulled a ton of weeds and plants and put the ground. We cleared a good chuck of it, finding some fun things in the process. 

"Ahhhhhhhhh that's the biggest spider I've ever seen!!" -Jourdan. 

NTC '13: Early Start

Well, the alarm clock went off at 5:30am. After a long journey yesterday, a lot of us slept through it. By 6:15 the guys had packed up all of their belongings and carried them upstairs. (A task the will have to do every morning because the church is used by other groups during the day.) 

Breakfast. Yum. We ate our cereal and fruit, and packed our sack lunches for the day. We spilled a large amount of milk along the way, as we are not yet used to the very squared milk gallons try have here in NYC. :-P 

After doing devotions and meeting as a group we are now splitting up into our two "city groups". This morning we will all be starting at St. James presbyterian church to do some outside yard work. In the afternoon we will split up. One group will head over to Operation Exodus, an after school tutoring program. Then on to dinner at Malecon, a Dominican restaurant. The second group will be doing the "Harlem Plunge" in the afternoon. We will Learn about and explore the neighborhood of Harlem. Group two is planning on heading to Big Arc Chicken a local middle Eastern restaurant for dinner. 

Please pray for us! Pray we have the strength for today. We are all tiered from yesterday's journey. We had a few people who are sick, and one healing sprained ankle. 

More to come later!

NYC '13: The Long Drive

We all met at the church around 3am, and by 3:45 we were packed in the vans, and ready to go. 

We had a great drive to New York, only having to stop for gas, food and driver changes. Once we got to Newark we got a little split up. But thanks to modern technology (GPS and Siri) and our drivers (Jon, Heidi and myself) we all made it though the crazy traffic that is New York City. 

We are now at our housing site for the week: Flatbush Reformed Church in Brooklyn.  And now, it is time for bed. Early start tomorrow(leaving at 7:15!!) more to come tomorrow. 

Dear Mom,

We sang "How Great Thou Art" in church today. It reminded me of you. I know you believed those words, so deeply in your heart. And while I'm sure you are praising your king in heaven, I didn't know it was going to be so hard here without you.

It has been 8 years, 8 months, 10 days, and 4 hours since you took your last breath here on earth. I've graduated high school, and college. You would be proud of me, I graduated with a special Ed degree. :-) oh, and I met someone. His name is Bobby. You'd like him, he's really cute, and he makes me happy. We got married two summers ago, on July 3rd. No, we don't have any kids yet. But someday. I joined a show ski team!! You would love it! I'm learning all the stuff you used to do! Can't wait until our first show!

I look through pictures of you a lot. I keep thinking eight years is a long time. But then some song or something will remind me of you, and it will all come flooding back to me. It will seem like just yesterday- you were holding my hand, reading your Bible with me. We would each lunch from Forest Hills Foods while you got your chemo treatment. Then that awful day will creep into my memory. Your last breath, you left your body. And, it turned cold so quickly. We turned off your oxygen machine, and they took your body away from me.
I try not to think about it- but it's all so vivid. Once one memory is triggered then they all flood in. I keep your perfume on top of your jewelry box. I wear your necklace on days I want to look as beautiful as you. And on days I really miss you I open up your perfume so I can remember how you smelled.

But your voice. I miss your voice more than anything right now. And your hugs. I wish I could hold you and hear you talk to me again. I can see your smile in my mind, but I can't hear your voice.

I love you. And I miss you with every ounce of my being.
Your snuggle bug.

100th Day of Kindergarten!!!

Today was the 100th day of kindergarten! And if you didn't know, or don't remember, it's a REALLY BIG DEAL!!! We make a really big deal of counting to 100 lots of times, and doing many activities involving the number 100.
We told the kids yesterday that we were going to be gone today for meetings, but we were going to have our 100 year old grandmas come in and sub for us! So we dressed up like we were 100 years old! Haha it was so fun.
I really got into character and acted like "granny Moore" for the whole morning. I moved slowly, did my best grandma voice, and asked lots of questions about the rules, etc etc. After a while I had students holding my hand to help me walk, picking things up for me, and bringing me chairs to sit down. :-) I told the kids I was very tired and that kindergarten was hard work. "Granny Moore needs to go home and take a nap."
During lunch I changed and took my makeup off, and returned as Mrs. Moore. As soon as I walked in some of them said, "Mrs. Moore! You missed it! Granny Moore was here!!! She's so nice!" I thought to myself; SUCCESS! They still believe! :-) it was very fun.
Of course we did a few great activities with 100. Including making a necklace with 100 Cheerios, a special "100 things" snack, and a visit from ZERO THE HERO!! It was a wonderful day. Another day I thank The Lord for my job!!

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

Today, another snowday, was a good day. After a busy, exciting, and exhausting weekend at our MS winter retreat, I needed a day off to recover.
It was a great day to catch up on cleaning and laundry, as well as on much needed sleep. I asked Bobby what he wanted to eat for dinner and he said, "I like crock pot chicken stuff!"
I looked on AllRecipes(dot)com and quickly found a slow cooker BBQ Chicken recipe. (http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/213668/recipeslow-cooker-bbq-chicken)
I found lots of recipes with store bought BBQ sauce so this one intrigued me not having bottled BBQ sauce. Here are the ingredients:
-3 Lrg Chicken Breasts
-1 Cup ketchup
-2 T. Mustard
-2 tsp lemon juice
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 cup maple syrup
-2 T Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 tsp chili powder
-1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl, stirring until well mixed. Pour sauce over chicken and cook on low for 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to slow cooker and cook for 30 min. Serve on buns with potato chips. :-)

I was skeptical- but so impressed! I loved it! It was more sweet than I expected, yet it had the perfect amount of tang! I will definitely be doing this recipe again!!

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today was a very interesting day. Besides it being Martin Luther King Day, it was also a very snowy and cold day in West Michigan. Our class of normally 28 Kindergarteners, was reduced to 18! Snow, the holiday and sickness combined, we were feeling eerily empty today.

My teacher did a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. And what today was celebrating. She explained what Mr. King's dream was, then gave the students a chance to "dream" too. :-). It was quite amazing the things our Kinders dreamed of for the world.

Here are just a few photos of students' work: