Oblah Dee Oblah Dah - Life Goes On...

Hey all, so i don't actually know who out there is still reading this, (other than parents) but to all who are (including parents) kudos to you...Why you may ask? Because i can give them to you...that's why...so kudos...whatever those are anyway...and do you think they are edible?

well anyway, aside from the food that is always on my mind, we've had a couple of unique days...this weekend was a bit...funky. I was in a funk basically. And that's never good. Although my lovely bride and i had wonderful date night Saturday out in the East Village, along with about 2,000 santa clauses - beats me... We were able to go to our new favorite ultra cheap sushi joint called Avenue A sushi. It is yummy, however it's not cheap on the weekends, no early bird special, but it was filling and good none the less. On Sunday we did a little bit of Christmas shopping, which jeffery is busy digging around in right now, sorry Jane - he really seems to like your present, and he looks so darn cute under the tree i can't help but watch him...hence why i will be a horrible father, "Look honey, Jr's so cute playing with the skill saw!! quick take a picture!" yeah, still growing up here...afterward we were able to go and help make a Miranda Christmas house! which basically means we were able to help some friends put up a christmas tree (my first real one i can remember) and eat junk food and watch classic christmas filmage. Along with the wonderful, and unfortunately late night, was our exposure to a wonderful little card game popular in Pennsylvania called "Dutch Blitz." It may be even better than Egyptian Monkey Slap, though i haven't decided yet...so watch out Steve and Jane, we're bringing the game next time we're down...if we can only find the cards...

as to today, Walter and i met for the afternoon and worked on many details of CitiVision's existence and even managed to squeeze in solving world hunger after a solid morning prayer session where we just bared it all. it was great, and i don't use that word lightly. Concerning prayer, please be praying for our friend Joey's brother John. He had an unfortunate issue come up this weekend, he is okay, but in need of prayer, hopefully this is a God wake up call for him. As well a pastor out of Floria named Keith is dealing with colon cancer. He has young daughters and a son, as well as a wife.

in addition to that Walter and i continued to go down the road of tedious stuff that makes the summer missions experience The Next Level happen. It's been a lot of fun despite some of the more tedious elements, but that's life. I've really enjoyed getting to know a lot of the leaders from various churches, schools, universities, and such over the past couple of months. I am looking forward to the 13 weeks this summer we will be hosting teams. I thrive off of smaller group dynamics and engagement. I will really enjoy being able to share more of God's calling to urban centers and His people with the Jr. High, High school, and college\ young professionals this summer. Of course be praying for us, that we can meet the financial need for the program, as well as just be prepared b\c it is very physically demanding going from about 6 am till after midnight every day for the entire summer. we have included some time off in our schedules and have planned for 4 interns to help us, but some schedules change and all the interns we had have had to back out, so please pray for 4 (or 5) able and willing individuals to help us this summer! we desperately need them with our new plan of action for The Next Level! PRay Pray Pray!

Also exciting was a solid conversation that more clarified my role with the organization with a hopeful, strategic, and attainable goal for a steady income for me! now that's exciting! Not that it's all about $$ but i do like to feel like i'm contributing to my school loan debt reduction and the family financially...some stupid guy provider gene thing...go figure

so also please pray for where we are headed. My buddy Austin from TX has decided to stay on for another year with us. He is seeking out an apartment and trying to solidify the option he has for one now. He is a tremendous asset to us in so many ways, and not to mention i like him. He reminds me of my friend Carl from SC. except considerably shorter, and not as prone to retaliate against my harassment's with wedgies...*sighs* memories...some how money is necessary for paying bills so, while he is raising a steady amount of his own support with him moving to the city (where he really needs to be) this incurs and automatic huge cost increase in his budget.

thinking about all the things that go on behind the scenes here that you guys don't even get to hear about b\c it's so much to say, but i'm so impressed with how God is bringing people of like minds, ministry concepts, passions, and various gifts together. And i'm humbled to work along a man like Walter who is so very wise, straight forward, and just awesome. Now this is not to say we don't butt heads sometimes, or get short with each other, but it's been great being with him and seeing his love for life and love and GOd and ministry...it is also humbling to be beside him as he relates knowledge, and wisdom, and life lessons to me and with me. his humility and desire to continue to grow and remain teachable, open and rebukeable is a good reminder to my self to fight my own arrogance and pride and to revel in the joy and true Gift of our wives and the soooo unconditional love they give us...

i can't begin to say how much life has changed...how much i have changed, or tammy for that matter here. Full time ministry looks so different than i ever thought it would in college or before, while i sat in theology classes arguing mentally arrogant positions for no reason other than we could, or while is at behind pianos, guitars, or in vocal lessons thinking i'd be a full time worship leader...some people, like Jil (aka Poo Brain) thankfully have pursued those callings and will fill that role beautifully, but i am thankful for the curvy, switchback, lumpy, and foggy road of life that has lead me here. I am reminded even now of God's mercy in my life, of His never ending Grace at my screwed up everything, and His crazy love for me. As we prayed this morning i was thankfully reminded, after a frustrated rant to walter about stuff, how God is so far above all our earthly concerns with his greatness, all resources sit at his command, all knowledge and wisdom are his, the Creator of all things out of nothing, but even with that, He my great God, being above the ridiculous things i let consume me, he so desperately is interested in those same things...He is a paradox, a vast dichotomy i fail to understand and am thankful for the cause of the ignorance...

So once again, thank you to our families and friends and mentors who without we would not be where or who we are today. And to those who pray for us, please...never stop! even if it's once in a blue moon (does that really even happen?) and thank you for those prayers, we covet your battling along side us in seeing God's Kingdom take shape in an unexplainable,incomprehensible Love being lived, not religion being preached. And to those who for the last 6moths to a year and even longer have financially supported and gifted to us...THank You!!! THank you!! THank YOu!! We really are at a loss of words for your sacrifice...we live in a consumerist nation, that says money is the ultimate end. and you have made, consistently and graciously, huge sacrifices for us to be able to live out God's love in Manhattan and the rest of NYC. God bless you all...seriously, never mind the cheese sound...

I am humbled some days as i walk down the street in our neighborhood and see the shoes of kids and teens that were killed in gang violence hanging from electrical wires above me, or when i step off the subway on 33rd street by madision square garden as i head to the Gracie jujitsu studio i train at, or when is stand barking push up counts at a bunch of kids, whose parents have entrusted me to teach Martial Arts and to help their children realize their potential...we live in New York City, NYC, the place people would die to be. Rightly called by new yorkers, the true capital of America, the greatest city in the world (i'm still holding out that Tokyo may be cooler...slightly) and we live here, everyday of our lives, likely we will raise our children here, we will set in place a legacy of God's grace and mercy for thousands of people of many years of slow, practical, loving, tedious, and joyful ministry...Thank you.

your humbled brother,

Jonathan.

and thank you to the Working Title for providing pleasant and appropriate background listening for this post...

Hey look at me! I'm not dead after all!

At least i'm pretty sure i'm not...nope, don't feel like it. So i'm here, on a saturday morning waiting for my martial arts class to begin at 10:30. Some days i love teaching the kids some days i just groan about it. It's been a wonderful experience though these past couple of months working with just a small group of the students. After the first of the year i will be expanding and offering some new things, but the challange always comes in maintaining a balance between my teaching and CitiVision development stuff.

Most likely you have no clue as to what's been going on since we haven't written much lately. so here's the ketchup for me...

Walter (this guy from Columbia that i like very much) -

Austin (this guy from texas that i like very much) -

and i (that's me and need i say how much i like me?) -

well we have basically for the last 6 months been locking ourselves away and working on the infrastructure of CitiVision, reorganizing, refocusing, eating, rethinking, recreating, eating...you know the important things. on the flip side it's been great, we are headed into a fresh and focused direction again and God is really blessing our efforts for the city. Of course this kind of ministry is seemingly slow because we are talking relational, long term. So some of the immediate gratification is certainly lacking, but that's okay, we're having fun and growing all at the same time.

That being said, the challange for me is deciding how much time to put to martial arts and personal training while maintaining my availability for CitiVision on a development level. Now what i am doing with the martial arts is under\ along side CitiVision right now and is a great partnership. Of course as any entrapanureal sort, i have certain things i'd like to change, and there are challanges that i have to try and meet with the partnership, but i have a business and a (hopefully soon) source of income for myself. Though Walter and are looking at some options within the Organization to make that work and gel it all together (my desires in martial arts\ extreme sports and a paycheck with them) of course i'm not complaining b\c he has been gracious and been trying to pay me a little here and there for my time, which is good b\c it's going to cover some of the business start up costs.

so enough of the dull stuff. beyond all that, we are great as well. It snows here a lot. and that's fun, i love it, Walter just complains about the cold. It's kind of funny he'll sit at the desk with a beannie on longsleeve shirt and blowing his hands and i'm in a t shirt with my shoes off b\c i'm hot....

well, my students will be gathering soon. Please keep the organization, the business, our family, and our finances in your prayers. the first school loan payment goes out today...blech....thanks CSU...

loaves to all,
jonathan +)

PS (Public Service): And always remember...

Pigeons are just rats with wings...

Yes, it's very cold up here.

I have much to share after being M.I.A. for a couple of months:) I can't believe it's already November. Thanksgiving is next week!!! I'm so excited. I'm also very excited about my new niece that is "on the way". My brother Brian and sis in love Sarah are eaglery awaiting the birth of Amelia.

I just wanted to share with you guys something that I found while I was plundering in old folders in the computer. I looked at this earlier in the week and was simply amazed. It was hidden somehow in my nursing things.... I haven't looked at nursing school files since April. Anyway, here it is. It is a record of what I wrote down last November. I just knew it was going to be monumental and I never wanted to forget it. So, here it is:

November 11, 2006











Happy Saturday. That’s what Jon and I had decided we were going to have. After sleeping in and grabbing some breakfast at Perkins we were off to buy Molly and Jeffery a new home. Expansion was deemed necessary. This expansion was 3 stories of fun and excitement for the kids and we were happy with our purchase. Driving home, we encountered this lovely older gent that decided he wanted some LAHA (La Hacienda)for lunch. He turns into our lane about 4 feet in front of us and Jon slams on the breaks, the air bags fly out and amazingly no one was hurt. That’s good stuff. The car was most definitely totaled. The cool thing is that Jon didn’t get busted for his expired license and the older gent was just so very chatty. He had no clue. The officer was very helpful and laid back... actually from NYC. God blessed us with free lunch at Taco Bell later in the day as well. A nice perk to allow His children to smile and realize that He is always in control.

November 15, 2006

So, the car has been declared Totaled. The estimate is $4,273. This part is amazing and hard for me all at the same time and it will take a bit of explanation to really understand how cool God is and how He is always working and loving His children. About a year ago, Joey and Cel decided not to renew the lease on their apt. trusting in God that He would provide a place for them that is bigger to raise Melania. But, they didn’t get the loan for the new apt they were looking at or the vote to get into the coop. Through disappointment, but total assurance that God knew what was going on, they moved into Cel’s parents’ house. They decided they would use this time to search for another building and save up some money. A few months later, Joey’s parents were at risk for loosing their house. Joey knew that God was leading him to care for his parent’s and provide for them with the money that was saved up for the down payment on the apt., which was $8,000, the exact amount needed to save the house from going under. Wow. The faith. The trust. Joey knew that this was the Lord’s plan so he willingly offered this to be God’s hands on earth even though He was scared and wanted the best for his family. Well, over the past few weeks Joey and Cel have been letting us in on their plans so that we can be in prayer. Jon and I have been praying that they would get approved for the vote on the coop as well as get accepted for a loan they need. These two things have both happened. Well, a couple days before the car accident, Joey told Jon to be in prayer for them because they needed $4,000 for a down payment on the apt. I think Jon and I both knew at that moment what was going on with the car accident. We had been questioning why we lost the car when we only had 5 months until our move date… now we knew. The Lord started leading us to give the money to Joey and Cel. It is taking faith and trust… This is hard for both of us. It is scary. The selfish want is to keep the money and save it for our move.. I have learned though, that my provision doesn’t come from my job, my family, or my friends. It comes only from God. It takes trusting in God’s purpose and His plan…Not only for our personal lives. I have to be aware of God’s plans for His body and His church. I know that God will provide for Jon and I the exact same way that He has provided for Joey and Joey's parents. Jon and I are eager and excited to see what God has in store for us and the way He will do it. I want to share these experiences to not forget, but also to build others’ up who are unsure of the future or God’s amazing provision.

So... I guess that is all for now. I'm glad that I kept that journal. I forgot the little details.. like how the officer helping us during the car accident was from NYC. The crazy thing is that Jon and I survived with only one car for the last 6 months of our time in SC. We were both in school full time and working! One of my friends from nursing school, who is also a Christian, offered to drive me to and from school/clinicals for Novmeber classes. God arranged it so we were in the same classes for the rest of nursing school = November - April. The crazy thing about that is the nursing instructors would intentionally try to separate students that had already been in class together....

Well, I am going to keep up with the blog now. It's been hard the past couple of months with working full time.. I mean honestly, I had the whole summer off:) I became accustomed to sleeping in until 10:30am. ahaha.

I am still in orientation with my job. I start night shift in two weeks, so pray for me that my body will adjust well. Jon is steadily working with CitiVision and also his martial arts buisness. He is leaving for Dallas, TX the week after Thanksgiving.. I think the dates are Nov. 27-30. He and Walter are going to be meeting with future partners and sponsors. Be in prayer that they are safe and the ministry will grow.

I love you guys... sorry for the M.I.A status:)

Maybe you would like some pictures?

It was a nice day for this buisness too, might I add. It made me want to go fishing though...

Staten Island Ferry... tourist day

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Case Studies are informative, yet droll

I think I have bruises on my bottom. I have been learning the ways of an ER nurse for the past two weeks and it will continue with case studies until the end of next week.

I am thrilled about what I'm going to be doing and reading about it makes me want to just jump right in to the mix. I'm still learning patience... really though, it's my fault. My nurse educator asked if we wanted more classroom or if we wanted to take a break and start on the floor, but I said I wanted to be as prepared as possible. I don't want to just stand around and wait for someone to tell me what to do, I want to be aware of what is going on so I can start my own assessment and give the appropriate treatments.

I am also bonding with my co workers and like that. Since the reading is self paced, we make time for coffee breaks.... and a lot of those are needed. Understatement there. What I've always liked about the ER atmousphere is the teamwork and I feel like I am building that ground work. I've had some great Jesus talks too and I love talking bout that sorta thing.

I'm lovin it up here... thats an understatement also. I do miss home. I'm thankful that I have good coping skills also or else I think I would tear up often about things that I'm missing out on down there. Hopefully, I will be able to arrange my work schedule for the holidays so we can hop on a plane. I'm a bit unsure of the logistics due to my orientation, so just keep that in prayer paleese.

Anyhoo.. that was just my update. I figured I had time to do that since Jon is taking a little nap and it's rainy outside.

love you guys,

Tammy

Monday, September 17, 2007

observations of monday

So I need to say thanks to my buddy Joey, b\c he helped us out with the funding for the martial arts program! He sent out an email explaining our situation and plan and we had an answer form an organization in Peoria Illinois that is sending $200 for the shirts and in addition to that some of our supporters have been kind enough to give extra just for this need! All I can say is that I am constantly humbled by the body of Christ as we serve each other and it gives me hope on days like today when there seems to be so much poop mixed in our functioning of the church.
So I do these assessment meetings for the organization and the advantage of that is I get a great view of all that is going on in the ministry, the disadvantage of that is that I get a great view of all that is going on in the ministry…Be that as it may, this is one area I am able to serve here. And I’m selfishly asking for your prayers as our family in Christ. I need wisdom and discernment, and a peaceful tongue, and patience, and self control, and hope, and the list could continue…so please be praying for me in these endeavors. Change is painful and slow usually…
As for more exciting things, Tammy has been really enjoying her new job, which I know she is filling you in on, and we are constantly amazed at how God saves us from our ignorance so often.. His plan is always better than our own! Thankfully…
Another area you can be praying for is our friend Andrea, she graduated with me and is considering moving up here to help in the ministry as a grant writer, but the challenges of discerning God can sometimes be difficult and challenging. She has some another offer in Cincinnati that she is considering as well. So pray that she can find peace in the decision making process and go as God leads her, even if that’s not here =(
So anyway, life progresses and it was a wonderful 59 degrees this morning…I love winter…and I am enjoying the climate change. And I love lunch….which is calling me. God bless you guys, and much love.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

my new adventure

HORRAY!!!!


I have had the most fabulous week at my new job. Where do I even begin? I guess I could say that this is the best fit for me. The staff, even management, is personable, welcoming, and fun to be around.


I thought orientation was going to be horrible... with management throwing policies and procedures at me like crazy while I feel totally overwhelmed. It is actually the exact opposite. I find myself learning without even knowing that we have drifted from typical conversation to my nurse educator teaching. I am in orientation with 8 other employees, two of them will be joining me in the ER. The other 5 are sad that they didn't come to the ER because the nurse managers from ER always come up to the classroom and give us high fives. I keep hearing how amazing the teamwork is down in the ER. I will find out for myself on Tuesday because the classroom part of my orientation will be over. I have a feeling that it is true and the learning environment is going to be great.


Bronx Leb is known as a family hospital. Everyone gets their family members to work there because the "feel" is supportive. I love that. Something else I love about it is the diversity. Today at lunch, I learned a bit about Korean, African(Nigerian) and Spanish culture. Where else besides NYC can you do that all in 45 mins? Amazing.

Anyways, just pray for me and my comrades this week as we embark on this new advendure in the ER. I am ready. At least I think I am...
I feel priveledged and blessed to be in the center of a chaotic/sort of controlled environment. I hope that I will be Jesus' hands and feet. That somehow my presence manifests His. I also pray that my attitude will effect my surroundings. Prayerfully, my attitude will be calming admist the chaos... and instead of adding to the confusion I can produce change and healing. It's going to be fast and furious there, but it's exciting.

I was asked just a few days ago what is the vision for my life? I responded by stating "To positively effect peoples' lives through healing." Of course physical, but also spiritually. I hope that I can bring peace and strength to patients and family members when the stress is high. I was told today that we as RNs are unable to speak of spiritual matters due to legalities.... but I know prayer is powerful.

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know about it:)

Lovelove,

tammy