This is the Church

on sunday, june 18, 2006, i moved to new york.

on monday, june 19, i started my first job here.

on saturday, june 24, i moved into my apartment.

on sunday, june 25, i first visited the gallery church.

it wasn't my plan. to be perfectly honest, i thought all along i would go to redeemer. but,

on sunday, august 6, 2006, i decided i was in. i emailed todd and asked if i could lead a gallery church growth community. he said yes.

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what followed was one of the richest times in my new york experience to date. singing on the worship team with brett and cynthia. learning under the teaching of aaron and stan. meeting at rustin high school. falling in love with my small group that met every wednesday night at the starbucks at 81st and 2nd. eating at boston market each week after church. i was new to the city, but gallery church - even in its infancy - made it feel like home.

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but in may 2008, i got tired. so i quit. it made sense at the time...every other church in new york seemed to have that one thing i thought i was missing. [insert more people. cute boys. tim keller. anonymity.] the thing that i felt God needed me to find.

turns out, God just needed me to find my way back to gallery. to Him. this time, with a clearer focus and renewed energy.

so in september 2008, i came back. started singing on the worship team again, this time with paul. joined a new community group that encouraged my soul every wednesday night once again. got to know new friends and old ones for a second time around. reminded myself why this church had held a special place in my heart from the jump.

and on september 15, 2009, i sat in a church meeting for 4 hours. i took in the gorgeous SALT space that God has provided. i voted on the church's first official bylaws. i ate the most delicious corn casserole i've ever had. and i looked around at the faces of the people who made this city my home.

the people who invited me to watch grey's anatomy with them when i had no other friends.

the people who greeted me with southern accents.

the people who said, 'we've missed you, and we're glad you're here.'

the people who challenged me to display the greatness of God to the world.

the people who were the hands and feet of Jesus to me when i was a stranger in a foreign land.

the people who were my family when my family was very far away.

and now it's all very clear. it was never my plan to begin with. i didn't find my way to gallery church. i didn't pick it. i didn't just wind up there because i had a friend who had a friend. it was God's plan all along. it's where He meant for me to be then, and where he means for me to be today, september 15, 2009.