Retreat to Long Island

I was privileged to be able to visit the Timothy Hill Children's Ranch this weekend, in Riverhead, New York (Long Island-near East Hampton).  Jerry and Fern Hill run this home for boys, and are amazing Christian people.  We have several mutual friends, so they invited me to spend the weekend there.  They cooked wonderful meals for me, showed me around the ranch, went shopping in their thrift store (which was AWESOME), and just provided some very much needed hospitality and kindness.  One of my favorite parts was the view of the Long Island Sound, which is a short drive from their home.

On my way home, I needed to change trains at Ronkonkoma.  As I stepped out of my seating area into the aisle on this double decker vessel, I didn't see the step down and fell flat on my face.  It was a very hard fall, and this man came running from the front to help me up.  My pride was hurt worse than my body, but it still was pretty painful.

After making it to Penn Station, I was walking down the street towards my apartment, and saw about 100 people behind police barricades taking pictures of a car.  Since I wasn't part of the pack, and was actually about ten feet from the car and about thirty feet closer than them, I started taking pictures as well.    I still have never heard of these people, but apparently it was Kofi Kingston and CM Punk from the WWE Smackdown Tour.  CM and I were standing right next to each other, as he was photographing some groupie with his name across her chest.

Last night I went to dinner and a movie with some new friends here.  I had the best bar-b-que sandwich and sweet potato fries that I have ever eaten.  The company was never better, the movie was entertaining, and it was my first fun girls night out!  After church this morning, I went to the Plaza Hotel to get my hair cut by this amazing girl named Leah.  She did a fabulous job, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere.

In an attempt to avoid laughing at a comment about a guy in church looking like John Malkovich in Of Mice and Men, I started reading around in Matthew.  I found the story of Jesus walking on water in chapter 14, and read it differently than I ever have before.  I love it when that happens...when something you could basically recite by memory, takes on a whole new meaning and application because of the situation you are in at the moment.  Jesus tells us to trust him, and that he will take care of us.  The second we start to fear elements of the world, and think we are self sufficient, is the second when we start to drown.  It's not until we trust in his leadership and direction that we are picked back up again.  Remembering that during this job search has been a challenge, but I know that he will provide.  As he always has...