So today, I got to spend my first full day in New York.  The three of us who stayed at the Holiday Inn all woke up relatively late.  It felt nice to sleep in.  After waking up, we all went to go get a quick "New York" breakfast.  Then we wandered around the town and eventually ended up at Central Park. There we saw these two guys on the sidewalk, drumming on a bunch of upside down plastic buckets.  They were actually pretty good.  The weather was nice and it felt perfect sitting on the ground listening to some pretty good drum beats. 

After Central Park, we went and met up with the infamous Taylor Tutt and headed over to the Cold Stone,  which is one of my favorite places.  Of course the line was rather long so we ended up running really late to meet Scott at the NY Theatre Workshop.  Then, the subway that we got on screwed us over and switched from local to express after we had gotten on the train.  But, we finally did make it to meet everyone (only about 15 minutes late). 

We all went out to eat and then went to see the show at the Theatre Workshop, which happens to be the same place that RENT orginally started before it went on Broadway.  The show was great and I had a great day.  Til the next day...

So today was my first day on my trip to New York City.  I had to wake up at four in the morning to make my flight, but it was all ok as I was really to hyped up to sleep anyway.  The trip to NYC was the longest I could even imagine. Our first flight left Nashville at about 8:30 in the morning and (included a layover in Atlanta) we didn't get to Newark until about 3:15, so subtract an hour for time change and the flight itself was about a little under four hours which isn't bad, but then you have to add in the train time to make it to NYC. 

Because I am an idiot at times and get lost relatively easily, it took us almost three hours to navigate the train/subway system to make it to our hotel.  But enough of that. 

Today in NYC.  I just have to say three words, "I'm in heaven."  Not only was the whole experience of just walking the streets (not in the "Pretty Woman" sort of way) amazing, but I also spent about two hours in the Toys R Us on Times Square.  The three of us (me, Alex V., and Hunter) ended up at the Lego table building a replica of the Rocky set legosized.  Overall, today was just one of those days that you will remember for the rest of your life, even after you've forgotten your wedding anniversary.  Now it's going to be hard dragging me away next Saturday.

Yesterday, I got to wake up to the most wonderful sight here in Murfreesboro- snow.  It's been so long since I actually took the time to really appreciate the beauty that is snow.  I always complained about it (too cold, I don't want to get frostbite, etc.), but I now realize how beautiful snow really is.  It makes every look clean and pure.  It makes it seem as if the world has been given a clean slate to start all over again, and hopefully not make the same wrong decisions. 

That's what I love about waking up each and every morning.  Don't get me wrong, I am nowhere near a morning person, early morning for me is 8 or 9 am.  But waking up gives me a chance to really meditate, spend time with God and myself and start anew... a clean slate.  I guess the snow reminds me of that, the clean slate all Christians get in the morning and every day that they live for Christ. 

 I believe that it's always nice to know where you're going in life,  but sometimes you just have to remember to stop trying to take the reins.  My life is like that, I am constantly reminding myself that it's not MY car to drive (plane to fly, boat to steer, whatever your analogy be), I'm just the passenger watching out the window, trying to remember the directions.  But then again,  I don't necessarily need to remember all the directions all the time, because I have someone who is reminding me each step of the way. 

Wow, tangents of all tangents.  I start out talking about the beautiful snow and end up talking about driving and giving up the wheel to God. 

I think I'm starting to understand what Christ's love is truly like. I've always heard people say, "Jesus loves you" but never truly understood the depth of which He did.

Going through this break-up has helped me come to understand what Christ meant when He gave us His love. I love David. I truly believe that now. My love for him reminds me of Christ's love for all His children. When David and I broke up, I felt so much pain that I could not function for days. It physically hurt me not to be able to KNOW him or even just to HEAR HIS VOICE.

That's just an inkling of what Christ is going through for us. He loves each and every one of us ten times more than I could ever love David or anyone else. Jesus went thorugh torture (literally) and DEATH for us because He loves us so much.

I can barely comprehend the pain He goes through every day. Wanting to KNOW ever single human being intimately and to HEAR every voice crying out to Him. The closest I can come to understanding His pain is to take the pain I have felt these past few weeks from losing David and multiplying that by millions, or maybe even billions.

I wouldn't be able to physically handle that. I would probably lose my will to live by just multiplying the pain by ten.

The thing is... I couldn't wish that type of pain for anyone. Much less the Man who allows me eternal life and treasures beyond compare. But He DOES go through that incredibly gut-wrenching pain every day because of the world we live in. A world of self-love and personal gain. A world where people incessantly try to one-up each other just because they have the means. A world that focuses on thenegative of people with distrust permeating through every part of their bodies.

Can't people see that kind of world they live in? Do they really think that a little more money,or physical pleasure , or popularity will halp ease the aching hole that is swallowing them up? Or the gut-wrenching pain that has taken over? It won't.

Valetine's Day is about love. Whey do so many people look forward to this one day in a year that focuses on love? Because it THE MOST POWERFUL EMOTION! It's what started wars; influenced poetry, songs, and other literature; and what caused One Man to give up His Life. Because of His unconditional love...

for me.