Update #2 (Good News!): I heard from Tyler again earlier this evening. It turns out that things aren’t as bleak as they seemed earlier. It turns out that the doctors do not want to do surgery because Tyler has had too many surgery’s in recent years. Another surgery right now could do immediate [...]]]>

Update #2 (Good News!): I heard from Tyler again earlier this evening. It turns out that things aren’t as bleak as they seemed earlier. It turns out that the doctors do not want to do surgery because Tyler has had too many surgery’s in recent years. Another surgery right now could do immediate and irreparable damage. So, they’ve decided to wait and try chemo/radiation first and see if they can get the tumors to shrink or go away or at the very least stop growing. If it doesn’t stop growing then they’ll have to reassess and probably do a very risky surgery. As for now though, that is very good news. Please continue to keep Tyler and his family in your prayers!!! Let’s see God do something amazing here!

Update:Just heard from Tyler with bad news. There will be no surgery. The doctors just informed him that they can’t operate on the tumors and gave him 5 months to live. Please please please continue to pray. I believe that God can do something amazing here!!! Please keep him and his family in your prayers!!!

In the fall of 2008 I met Tyler at Georgia Tech. He was finishing up chemo from a very rare form of cancer and was about a year behind everyone else from his high school class because of his cancer and treatment. In January of 2009 he was supposed to come over for the National Championship game but no one could get ahold of him. We received a call from his dad that he had almost died the night before when a tumor in his brain caused an aneurism. He barely made it the hospital in time and they performed emergency surgery to save his life. He had to withdraw from GT for the semester so that he could rehab. Tyler’s a fighter if I’ve ever known one.

This past week Tyler sent a message that he was having pain in his head again and that he had a bad feeling about it. He was going in for an MRI and would let us know. After the MRI we learned that he has another tumor in his brain that they’ll operating on today at 11am. From what I’ve understood, this is a much more serious issue than before and the doctors have let them know that.

In addition, the past few January’s (between the 1st and 10th specifically) have been downright terrible for him. In 08 he began chemo for his first bought with cancer and then on the 7th of last year received his second blow. Obviously this last one came this past week as well.

Please pray with us today for Tyler. Pray for his complete healing and that when they do the pre-op MRI that they’ll find that God has completely healed him! There was a girl in our church here in NYC last year who was given just a few months to live and was prayed for and was healed. I believe that God can heal Tyler! Let’s pray for that!!! I’ll post an update when I hear something later.

Please pass this along as well and lets get a lot of people praying for Tyler this morning. And feel free to leave a comment here with a message for Tyler if you want and I will pass it along. Thanks everyone…

I (Daniel) [...]]]> On Saturday afternoon/evening it began to snow. And let me just say… GORGEOUS! Being from Florida and then Georgia I haven’t really seen much snow and I had never experienced snow like this. It was heavy and it was thick. We stayed up late just staring out the window and God’s glory falling down.

I (Daniel) had to get up early and go into Manhattan because I was opening the theater for our service. That’s when I found out why people have snow boots. Until that morning I had just thought to myself that I could just get away with the shoes I already have; then I stepped out into the snow. Out here in Queens they don’t really clear the roads or sidewalks and I was walking a path that no one had really walked yet. Several times, even as I chose my steps carefully, I had snow almost up to my knee. Again, this Florida boy had never seen anything like that before!

That afternoon, after church, we did a little shopping and we both came home with some snow approved boots.

Anyway, here’s a few pictures from that night and then the snow the next morning…

We stayed in town for Thanksgiving this year and celebrated with some delicious food after we attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, what’s the Macy’s Parade like [...]]]> Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season. In NYC it means that celebration and much needed rest is ahead. New Yorkers get pretty excited about the holidays.

We stayed in town for Thanksgiving this year and celebrated with some delicious food after we attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, what’s the Macy’s Parade like up close? Well, I’m glad you asked! Keep on reading for our experience as well as some pictures from the day!

We had to get up early in the morning and head into the city. Our pastor lives right off of Central Park West were the parade begins. So, we met Pastor Dave and his family right were the parade kicked off. We arrived about an hour early and were still a good ways back from the street, but, not too far back. With the little step ladder that Pastor Dave brought, his kids and Jess were able to see pretty well (as was I because I tend to be a little taller than everyone else). The 20 to 30 feet in front of us wasn’t too bad. What was bad was the view people had behind us at the start of the parade. As it kicked off I turned around to see people stacked up for 100 yards behind us. They definitely couldn’t see anything in the parade with the exception of the giant balloons. The parade was about an hour and a half long and we enjoyed every minute of it. Check out the pictures below.

That last pic is Santa finishing out the parade. From there we quickly headed home where we popped the turkey in the oven and cooked up some amazing stuffing as well as some cupcakes and banana pudding. A few hours later some of our new friends from church and a few of their friends came over for a feast. They brought some amazing food with them as well which only led to a post Thanksgiving feast stupor.

All in all, our first Thanksgiving in NYC was simply amazing. We were blessed with an amazing time at the parade in the morning followed by an even better time building new friendships and eating a bit too much!

A few weeks ago Jess was in the dentist office and I was waiting in the lobby. I picked up the National Geographic issue on the table which was [...]]]> So, at the time this posts, we’ll be somewhere between the cities of Atlanta and New York City. So, I just thought this was appropriate…

A few weeks ago Jess was in the dentist office and I was waiting in the lobby. I picked up the National Geographic issue on the table which was all about the discovery of NYC, etc… really interesting stuff. There was an ad inside for a National Geographic Special Edition on the ‘State of the Earth 2010′ and the urbanization that’s happening around the globe. Needless to say, we left the dentist office and immediately went and purchased both.

As we read through the ‘State of the Earth…’ issue we were amazed. An entire section was dedicated to the urbanization of the globe. It was yet another reminder as to why God has called us to reach cities. Last year was the first time the earth became more urban than rural and that’s only going to go up from there!

Definitely a worthwhile read and a motivator to reach cities!

You can read more about the issue here…

So, here’s what went down a few hours ago…

(quick backstory… we’ve positioned ourselves to move to NYC, all we need is to sell our car. As soon as that happens we’re on our way…)

We woke up this morning and attended LifeChurch.tv. Great message by Craig Groeschel. We then decided to go grab some [...]]]>

So, here’s what went down a few hours ago…

(quick backstory… we’ve positioned ourselves to move to NYC, all we need is to sell our car. As soon as that happens we’re on our way…)

We woke up this morning and attended LifeChurch.tv. Great message by Craig Groeschel. We then decided to go grab some breakfast. We’re staying at a friends apartment and were on our way across the parking lot to our car when God hit me. “It’s time to go.” It hit me strong. Really strong. So strong that I didn’t even hear my phone ringing, my wife got my attention and said, ‘hey, your phone…’.

I answered to find someone calling about our craigslist ad. They said they’d meet us right about that time we’d be finishing breakfast. Perfect.

We finished breakfast and called them to find out where to meet them, they were literally about 100 yards from us. Great couple with one car looking for another one. He drove it around for a bit and said he wanted it. We VERY briefly negotiated price and we got the price we wanted. Banks aren’t open today, so, he gave us a deposit to hold the car and we’re meeting tomorrow morning at the bank to make the swap. Awesome.

(Backtrack again… we’re moving without an apartment to move into. We need a place to stay for a few weeks while we look for an apartment up in the NYC area…)

So, I text our pastor to let him in on the good news that we’re ready to head up to NYC. Now all we need is a place to stay (kind of important I think). And here’s what was happening on his end…

He was getting up at church to tell Grace (our church family in NYC) that we were selling the car and heading up. Text arrives that the car sold. He tells church that all that’s needed is a place for us to stay for a bit. Guy in the church walks up and says, ‘hey, I’ll be out of town for the next 2 weeks, here’s the keys to my place’.

So, let me go through this again really quickly…

God Speaks… (1 hour later) Car sells… Announcement made… (2 minutes later) text from Pastor Dave in response to our text that we sold the car: ‘We just got a place for u while u look for an apt.’

And that is what God does…

I wore the wrong shoes.  They were flats but had very little support and were rubbing the back of my heals raw.  I decided that something must be done.  We were going to be in the city for the remainder of the day and after just walking [...]]]>

I wore the wrong shoes.  They were flats but had very little support and were rubbing the back of my heals raw.  I decided that something must be done.  We were going to be in the city for the remainder of the day and after just walking a few blocks the pain was unbearable.  Duane Reade to the rescue; a pharmacy that just happens to be located on like every block in New York City.  I went in and carefully selected some cushy insoles and a box of Band-Aids.

I found a nice park bench and began my foot care regimen.  The insoles were first.  I slipped them into each shoe and then let my feet sink in… ahhhhh… very soothing.  The pain was still there. My feet were very swollen at this point, but it was bearable.  My feet were no longer screaming at me but whispering softly.

Next came the Band-Aids.  I bought a special kind that was specifically suppose to help prevent blisters, but as I went to open the box I was horrified.  The box was completely empty.  My first thought, “wow Band-Aids are in such high demand in New York City that people are stealing them!  People here must have serious feet problems.”  My second thought was more of an emotion.  It was sadness. Here I was new in the city.  I was ill-prepared with a pair of shoes that did not exactly deliver what I was expecting.  So I made a plan B:  insoles and Band-Aids, to have that plan only partially come through.

How many people come to New York with a plan, believing that they are fully equipped, and yet find themselves buying into something that is empty and are left hurting?  Empty boxes/empty promises…  I felt a little pain with every step I took that day, but it reminded me why we were coming here.  Hope.  God’s plans and promises are anything but empty.

We’re kind of all over the place this summer; Georgia, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, New York. It’s a lot of fun, but, also really tiring. It’s a really exciting time!

Since our trip to NYC in December we’ve just been finishing up in Atlanta and gearing up for our move. [...]]]>

We’re kind of all over the place this summer; Georgia, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, New York. It’s a lot of fun, but, also really tiring. It’s a really exciting time!

Since our trip to NYC in December we’ve just been finishing up in Atlanta and gearing up for our move. We’ve been budgeting, planning, looking at apartments online, building relationships in NYC, and getting just a bit excited while we’re at it among other things…

Currently, though, we’re traveling and raising money for our move to NYC. We’ve got a lot of money to raise since we’re moving from one of the most affordable big cities in the U.S. to one of the most expensive cities in the world. To put it in perspective, let’s say you’re renting an affordable apartment in Atlanta that costs around $700/month. If Atlanta was on the NYC price scale you’d be paying around $1600/month for the same place (I did the math using IRS numbers and NYC residents put it about that as well!)! OUCH!!! And that’s why we’ve got raise more than double what our support goal in Atlanta was.

In addition to all the fund raising we have to head back to Atlanta at some point to pack up our apartment and move it into storage since our lease runs out at the end of July and we won’t be moving to NYC until late August/early September.

Then, in early August we’ll be heading to NYC for a few days for a leadership conference and some team building with staff at Grace.

So, if you didn’t pick up on it, we’re crazy busy this summer, but we’re also incredibly excited about what God is doing in our lives.

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