MoHa and the Poconos Mountains

It's been way too long since I've posted. There's so many posts I could write about, but I feel the need to rewind a bit and catch up! A few weeks ago we got to take a retreat as a family to the Poconos Mountains with our missional community. Our church here in the city, Trinity Grace Church offers these missional communities that are set up by neighborhood. Ours is "MoHa" Morningside Heights and Harlem. They are designed to offer an opportunity to get connected to the church as well as reach out to the neighborhood you live in. This has been an answer to specific prayers for Aaron and I as we desired to be able to get involved with community outreach. MoHa is made up of many singles, a few married with no kids, and a few families with toddlers. It's an awesome group.

A couple weeks ago, 33 of us loaded up and headed East to the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania. The purpose was to rest and connect. What a sweet time it was. We focused on Psalm 46 where the Lord tells us to be still and know that He is God. At times I thought it was a joke, because being still with two toddlers is almost impossible! But I was challenged to think through what being still looks like in this season - despite what feels like constant chaos! I am not sure that I walked away with any answers, but I do believe that God gave me some insights. Stillness is an attitude of the heart, not a circumstantial reality. If I look for stillness in my surroundings - hello - I live in NYC with a 1 and 2 year old - I will never find it. The first part of Psalm 46 addresses chaos going on in the world. Waters roaring, mountains quaking...Then it goes into what God has done. Towards the end of the psalm is where it's stated "be still and KNOW I AM GOD". The all caps is what God said to me that weekend. Even in the midst of craziness, Joyce, choose stillness in your heart because I AM YOUR GOD. It's as if He said "I got this - relax". It's a choice I need to make daily - sometimes each minute.

The connecting part of the retreat was incredibly refreshing. We got to live in community for a couple days. For Aaron and me that meant when the kids were napping or had gone to bed, we got to fellowship freely. It also meant that we got to watch our kids connect with the other kids as well as adults. There was a lot of joy in that. Perhaps one of our favorite moments of the weekend was getting to share our story of how we met. It was so sweet to reflect on that. Several of the gals that heard it shared later with me that it really brought hope to them. I love that almost 10 years has past, and God is still Glorifying Himself with the story He wrote to draw Aaron and I into marriage. I was touched by how this community enjoyed our kids and loved on them. They also loved us well in tending to them during different times so we could have a moment to ourselves or to eat without interruptions.


It's crazy to think that we've only been in NYC for 4 months, and we've already been able to experience such life in friendships. God is Good - writing this is an incredible reminder of that :)