New York, Day 2
Well, First of all…..MY FEET ARE KILLING ME! I have walked and walked and walked today! It has been a great day!
Let me explain why I am here for those of you who don’t know…..My wife, along with my choir at church, gave me a trip to New York to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Music Conference. It was a total surprise….The only bad thing…I had to come by myself. Carol could not come because of work and i tried to get a friend or two to come but it didn’t work out. But that’s ok! What a great time!
Today, I got out the door about 8 and started walking around Brooklyn. I am about 8 blocks from the tabernacle and downtown….Let me tell you….the blocks I am used to at home are much smaller than these blocks. I originally started out with a nice pair of loafers(trying to look cool) and by lunch time I had those off and my walking shoes on! This is probably the biggest city I have ever been to.
I walked to the Brooklyn Bridge and what an awesome sight that was. It is so cool to see in person the things that you see on TV.
For lunch I ate at a corner pizza dive. I had a pizza pie with chicken, tomato, spinach, broccoli, onion, mushroom, and probably a few other things I can’t remember. It’s probably the best pizza I have ever had.
The funniest thing I saw today was at lunch…..There was a guy next to me eating….He had on flashy gold plated shades and was reading a book called…..Millionaire Maker! I had to laugh….He wanted so bad to make it rich! LOL!
I did learn a few things today about New Yorkers. They love to blow their horn, they pay absolutely no attention to the cross walk signs, not many of them smile, the drivers drive very very fast…and the oddest thing….this is weird I know…..Most every car I have seen has scratches on the front and rear bumpers. LOL! There are some cars driving around with a thing on the back called a bumper guard.
I went into several shops….I went to Macy’s…didn’t buy a thing….went to the subway to get a Metro card…the subway is way cool and it moves pretty quick to. I had planned on going into Manhattan tonight but I couldn’t muster the strength to.
The first session at BT started at 1. It started with a couple of video clips on how the church first started and how the choir came to be. Carol Cymbala talked to us for a while from her heart about her passion…..She is an incredible lady!
By the way, the BT auditorium is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. It probably holds 4-6000 or so. maybe more, maybe less…And it was almost packed. There were people from 35 US states and then people from…get this….Canada, Bahamas, Jamaica, Central and South America, Norway, South Africa, Argentina, England , The Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Australia. All these people came just for the conference! THEY LOVE THE BT Choir….just like I love them
After Carol, Pastor Jim Cymbala gave an encouraging message with 3 points on how the devil can destroy a ministry starting with your heart. It was very moving and I think I fell into all 3 categories! pretty good stuff!
We broke at 4 for dinner and had some free time to WALK SOME MORE! LOL! (I had to go to Walgreens…I was out of soap and hairspray! LOL! oh, had to get tums and chapstick!)
We made our way back to the auditorium at 7 for choir rehearsal…..all attendees get to sing with the choir on Sunday. We rehearsed 3 songs….I sat by a great guy by the name of Roberto. Great singer and what a love he has for that choir.
After the rehearsal, the BT choir got up and performed 3 songs for us. Now, let me just tell you….I have heard them on CD, seen them on video……..BUT IT DOES NOT COMPARE TO HEARING THEM LIVE! I cannot express to you the love and passion and power in which they sing. At that point, we had church. That hour of time will go down as one of the all time greatest moments in my life.
We got out about 9:30 and I made my way back, the whole 8 blocks, to my hotel….and kicked my shoes off! WHEW!
Tomorrow is an early day….We start at 9 tomorrow and go to 4 or 5…can’t remember.
Anyway…..will blog more tomorrow night!
Nite, Nite!
Curt
