The beginning of March my family made their way to the northeast to stay with us for 5 days. We had such a wonderful time. It was great to spend time with them. We have not been able to spend long blocks of time together as a family in who knows how long, so it was such a sweet and refreshing time.My family(Dad, Mom, Amber, and Dillion) flew into Philly and rented a car to drive to New Jersey. I caught the train outside our apt to meet them in Princeton and hang out there for the afternoon. Once at the Princeton Junction I then took the Dinky to the center of Princeton Campus and planned to meet up with my family. Dad had been looking for a spot to meet in Princeton prior to coming to NJ so he found some random location on his GPS and plugged it in so when they drove to Princeton they would at least have some general idea of where they were going. I hung out at Starbucks reading for awhile waiting for them to arrive. Finally my dad called and they were almost there so I had to go outside to find a location to meet them. My dad informed me he was heading to 92 Nassau street because that is what he had plugged in the GPS. To my surprise I look around and I am standing exactly at 92 Nassau Street! So we met at 92 Nassau Street!
Once they arrived, even more to my surprise, my Grandma was in the car with them. My uncle drove her to the Philly airport to meet my parents. So we were able to spend time with Grandma Shelvy as well! It was a wonderful surprise!!! We toured the Princeton campus, walked around downtown and ate at Winberries.We live about 25 minutes north of Princeton so it is a fun day trip for us. We also have some great friends who live there who are now a part of Jacob’s Well, Scott and Sara.
Anyway… we headed back to New Brunswick where we met up with Ross. He was taking a class in NYC so he couldn't hang out in Princeton with us. My parents brought gifts from TN. And well….we ate all of them. That Night Amber, Dillion, Ross and I went to eat at this place called “stuff yer face” It is the local college hang out for Stromboli and beer. We really enjoyed spending quality time with Amber and Dillion. We have never really spent much time together with just them. We talked about life, school, the future and God. This was one of my favorite times of the week.
The next morning was church. I am so thankful my family was able to visit Jacob’s Well and hear Reid preach. All the events around the area are great and all, there is so much to see and so much to do, but nothing compares to Jacob’s Well. It is our family as well, it is the reason we moved, it is for the Glory of God, the Good of the City, and extends Hope through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We love the church and we love our immediate family and are so glad they were able to see the reason we moved fleshed out in the community of Jacob’s Well. We will have to write another update on the church really soon. We have been so amazed at God’s faithfulness and provision….
The next morning was church. I am so thankful my family was able to visit Jacob’s Well and hear Reid preach. All the events around the area are great and all, there is so much to see and so much to do, but nothing compares to Jacob’s Well. It is our family as well, it is the reason we moved, it is for the Glory of God, the Good of the City, and extends Hope through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We love the church and we love our immediate family and are so glad they were able to see the reason we moved fleshed out in the community of Jacob’s Well. We will have to write another update on the church really soon. We have been so amazed at God’s faithfulness and provision….
After church we drove to Staten Island to catch the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan.
From there we caught the Subway to Brooklyn to check out the Brooklyn Flea Market, http://www.brownstoner.com/brooklynflea/ , and ate at Grimaldi’s pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge back into lower Manhattan. It was the first time Ross and I have gone at Night and it was Beautiful!!! Sometimes it can be a long walk so take bathroom breaks before starting (that was for you Grandma) And of course we had to stop by Times Square before heading back home!
The next day we decided to head back to the city and spend some time walking around Central Park. We took the train into Penn Station caught the Subway up to the park.
We live about 40 Minutes from the Jersey Shore so on our final full day together we had to go visit, even though it was freezing that day. We went to a little town called Asbury Park that once was a thriving Ocean Resort area in the late 1800's early 1900's. The town slowly died over time; However the town is coming back to life. It was beautiful with all the huge historic buildings. Some spots still felt like a ghost town especially because no one wanted to come visit on a freezing cold day.
I am so thankful my family got to come visit us. We had a great time. It made me miss living so close to them. I think I took that for granted way to often. Family truly is a gift from the Lord.
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. Ps 4:7
