NYC.

After an incredible week away, I have returned to the land shaped like a hand. My time in New York was exciting, challenging, refreshing, and exactly what I needed. A high intensity week was peppered with great food, fellowship that filled my heart to overflowing daily, and plenty of rounds of 500, my favorite card game and a church trip staple during my years in the youth group. I had a blast hanging out with high schoolers and reigniting my passion for service and working with the poor. It was awesome to learn about how New York is working to meet the needs of its people and to come alongside them to offer what we could for a week. Our trip was equal parts service and education; we spent loads of time taking walks through various parts of the city to learn how the residents do life and listened to awesome speakers talk about how they integrate faith and work.

We stayed at the New York School of Urban Ministry, an awesome organization that offers service trips of various lengths, summer internships for college students, and cheap housing for groups like us who want to spend a week learning about and working in the city. We spent a couple days working with them, but most of our time was spent on activities we had organized ourselves. I loved the projects we did with them, so I definitely recommend checking them out is you're planning a trip to New York and want to have an atypical vacation.

We took all of our students to the World Trade Center memorial and St. Paul's Chapel which was an incredibly moving experience for everybody. Our kids were between the ages of 3 and 5 when 9/11 happened, so many of the details were new for them. Having been only 10 myself, I certainly remembered how it had affected life in America differently than they did and being on-site, especially in St. Paul's, was powerful. The design of the North and South pools evokes a really powerful imagery and really poetically and appropriately commemorates the tragic events of that day. I'm way glad we took time to go.

This was my first trip as a leader with the church I grew up in and I absolutely loved it. I learned so much about myself and what I'm capable of. It was as if something in my mind woke up and I begin to see more clearly as I thought about my future and what it would look like to live a life committed to integrating my faith into my career. I filled up page after page of my journal with thoughts and ideas and bits of the vision I have for my life after grad school. This trip to New York was perfectly timed. Like a divine appointment.

Because one observes a city completely differently when seeking to document it vs. seeking to absorb the way life is done there, we decided against bringing cameras on the trip. However, as a leader, I was to judiciously document important moments with my phone. The result was 18 instagrams for your perusal. Enjoy.