Oh His Love Never Fails

   Hello My Sweet Friends,

I don't know about you but this Christmas has went by like a blur and I can't believe it is over but God reminded me of so many things especially His character of love! This was my first Christmas away from home and  to be honest this week was hard for me but also good! God ended up using my NY family who has now adopted me to encourage me and love on me! And it was just such a blessing this week because my heart honestly felt a blur of emotions.
 I found myself missing some of my close friends and missing my home Church's Christmas Eve service but at the same time I found new memories! I also found this week  to be a hard balance knowing I love to be around people but I also  need to balance time to think. This one was hard for me because I while  I needed to think I also didn't want to be alone. I would say God put me in a challenging spot and a place to ask myself, " Can Christ be my all  when I feel alone?"
Grant it, I know I am never alone but  I think sometimes I forget that Christ is really there and the lie of being alone is nothing but a pile of lies. I also found it hard trying to figure out how do I connect with those around me and how do I be me without worrying what others think. I am telling you my heart got a work out this week.
And yet while my heart was rolling and rolling around God kept putting His arms around me to remind me that I am not alone. He gave me a family to stay with  and I loved every bit of the craziness. Yes, my heart could of paused more but I don't regret what I did experience. And yes, it seem like my heart was just on non stop tread mill but I had  friends that God put in my path to remind me that He was there!
Yes, I know people can't satisfy my heart but I think at the same time while I need to remember God is always there that He also understood my heart for community !
 In fact community is one of the many reasons I love Cornerstone! I 've been here at least 2 months I believe and yes I am still working on relationships but at the same time I think as I write to you all it reminds me to look up and see how God loved me this week because regardless of my hearts condition. My God didn't fail me... In fact this is what He gave me this week:

1.  Hugs  from my NYC family
2.  Learned how to play  a new game  with  the Tubb's 
3.  2 Lovely children who brought laughter 
4.  A Free Play
5. Ginger Bread houses

 And while I know these are a few I want to take time to mention them because regardless of  how much our hearts feel, God is faithful to keep loving us even in our weaknesses. So, in other words  I would say that this Christmas was  reminder that God loves me and He takes me in for me regardless of my  heart conditions or what I face. He also patient with us  to keep reminding us He's there no matter what it takes! And, so I  say all this  that maybe  the truth I need to remember and maybe you  as  well is  God can handle any thing !  Also, God's love never fails ! May God bless !

All He Wants For Christmas

 It's that time of year of again where we all scurry along trying to prepare ourselves for Christmas and let me tell you my friends that time can bring a lot of emotions but recently I read an article by one of my favorite bloggers Ann Voskamp ,  ( http://www.aholyexperience.com/2013/12/what-to-do-when-you-have-no-idea-how-get-ready-in-time-for-christmas/) and in her blog she spoke about how we are ready for Christmas when our hearts are ready for Christ! This one has rung huge with me! I know like many of you I have heard the Christmas story maybe a 1,000x's and how it is a day to celebrate Jesus's birth but how many times do we sit down to prepare our heart? I have to be honest even my heart got a little loss in the mix.
I mean even today as I decided to journey over to  Target at the Subway, I was amazed how crowded the stores were and to be honest  I thought ," Wow how much time do we spend to make it to the store or to bake those cookies for our loved ones compared to the time we offer Christ? "
I am not saying those things are bad but  I do think if we put that much effort to prepare for our loved ones, that maybe it is a wake up call for us with Christ ! I mean I do  take note I can't speak for all but  I think for me at least in this season God is reminding me more and more that all He wants is my heart!
I don't always remember that or claim it but I know it's my desire to  have that mindset that I might share the same anticipation in preparation for Christ  everyday to do work in my life! So, with this note I say Merry Christmas from Brooklyn and may God  remind us all that what He wants most is us to be His !

Into and Questions

 Hello Sweet Friends !

I have been wanting to start up a blog for my journey in NYC and so now I finally have a bit of time =)   Of course I'll have news letters but I think this is another great way for me to connect to friends and family back home ! For my  first piece I would like to take sometime to answer some common questions I have been getting  !

1.  How did you get involved with Cornerstone ?

  My  journey with Cornerstone actually began last Spring before I went to Colorado but I had no intentions or thoughts of NYC at the time. In my mind I was  way off from imaging being here ; however God used my small group leader Tim Bargo to encourage me to come with a group of girls from my home church Immanuel before I went to CO for  the summer.  So, I decided to take the step and  really God had been doing some early work in my heart before Cornerstone because I had been here before with my 1:8 Leadership Team.  My 1:8 Leadership team was huge because it was the first time I opened up my eyes to NY ! And so having some  time here before  helped nudge me along.  Therefore, when I arrived here in NY  that week during the Spring God started planting a seed ! 

I wasn't aware what this seed meant til the end of my summer in Colorado but  I knew in my heart one thing that I was passionate about missions. And so,  as I started praying and God reminded me  of NY  and what made it soo special to me during my 1:8  Leadership, I asked God to show me if this was the door  He would take me through and He did ! 

God allowed me to  connect with Cornerstone and have conversations with the Tubb's  to see if it was His will and now I am here in Brooklyn as an intern !

 2. What were your first thoughts of NYC before coming ?

To be honest I never thought of NYC as a mission place till my 1:8 Leadership team. In my mind NYC was a busy crowded place that I thought I could never live in. 

3. What are your thoughts now of NYC ?

 I am still exploring NYC  but I have more of an open heart  after experiencing with my 1:8 Team and my team from Immanuel !  And because God brought me here  before for one month and now a year  I am able to see it as a sea of beautiful faces !  There are some days everything feels so huge but  when I sit down or see an individual I know I think wow !, this is what NYC is about ! I believe in order to truly  experience NYC you have to slow down with open eyes ! If you  live  in a fast paced mind set ; you'll miss the little moments such as be surrounded by soo many ethnicity's ! I also love how  I am able to know how to get certain places and   know names as I mentioned!


So, in a small nut shell this is a little bit of how I got to NYC and  why ! I hope you'll join me as I blog more in my journey !