Last Monday my mom, Sandy Matthews, and I headed to NY to help one of our missionaries Bro. Ken Welborn with the Easter dinner he was hosting for the Personal Representatives, Ambassadors and other Diplomats from the United Nations. My Monday started off on a great note when I received a phone call at 4:30AM from my mom in my driveway asking if I was ready to go - the problem was that my alarm clock said 3:30AM so I was still in the bed. I said "sure, give me 5 minutes". I jumped out of the bed so fast, washed my face, put my clothes on, brushed my teeth and my hair and was out the door in 6 minutes. Yes, that had to be a record. Did you notice, no makeup was mentioned in the above, yeah I showed up at the airport with no makeup and just needed 5 minutes in the bathroom once I got through the security and I was ready to go!! Nothing like a quick wakeup call to get you going on a Monday morning.
Wonderful NYC!!
We arrived in the big CITY around 8AM, dropped off our bags at our hotel and were ready to work by 10AM. Our work consisted of making calls to over 500 diplomats to remind them about the Easter Celebration dinner. Now just imagine 3 southern women (1 with an EXTREMELY southern accent) calling people from all over the world and trying to pronounce some weird names. We had some really good laughs. My mom is one of the worst people to try and pronounce a name - she must say it 3 or 4 times trying to get it right.
We had prayed for this trip so much and we were so thankful for to have over 200 RSVP's for the dinner. Some of these were Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians. When Wednesday arrived, we had program folding, guest lists and flower centerpieces to take care of. You have to love NY because where else can you buy 20 roses for $10, but on the street corner in NY.
Our beautiful centerpieces
Just a side note on these arrangements and how God works. The day before we really had no idea how or what we were going to do for centerpieces. Bro. Ken didn't want to have to buy a centerpiece at $40 each or buy the glass for the centerpieces so we started praying as to what to do. Tuesday night, Karen, Ken's wife spoke with someone in the city who owns a flower shop that they have known for awhile to see what they had. The guy said that it was the week of Easter and there was really no way they could loan anything out. She wrote Ken's number down and gave it to him just in case. Well, later that night the man had forgotten about it all but reached in his pocked and pulled out Ken's number and felt compelled to help. So Ken was able to borrow the glass vases as well as the man gave Ken all of the greenery for free - God is so good. The 3 of us ladies just had to come up with an arrangement.
We were VERY busy and at 5:00 rushed back to our hotel to get ready and then caught a cab at 5:40 to go over The Roosevelt for the dinner.
As we checked people in we were able to put a name with a face. As we prayed for everyone who had RSVP'd to show up, we still had a few stragglers coming in at 7:30. You never know what all comes up at the UN last minute.
That night the 130 in attendance were blessed by to hear a wonderful concert by Larnelle Harris and be encouraged by Dr. David Uth from FBC Orlando. His message was great. He spoke about Disney World being the happiest place on earth since everyone could relate to Mickey Mouse, but the only way to truly be happy was to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They passed out Mouse ears to everyone afterwards and we heard such great responses from everyone. There was only one guy who immediately walked out as he walked in the room - I guess when he saw the huge 10 foot cross at the front he realized this was not his place since he was Buddhist. I'm sure Bro. Ken will be trying to have a visit with him.
The yummy dessert which I had 2 of.
Sandy, my mom and I with Larnelle Harris. I remember many a youth trips when I was in 6th grade listening to his and Sandy Patty's music - that was a long time ago.
Even though we worked so hard during the day, we were able to have a little free time in the evening. Monday night we took the subway down to Little Italy for some wonderful italian food at Il Piccolo Buffalo. We picked this based on there were a lot of people in the restaurant and by the end of our meal we knew why because there were 12 tables and only 1 waitress. Thank goodness the food was good.
Tuesday evening we headed to Herald Sq - to shop at the largest shopping store Macy's - 8 stories of pure bliss or pure craziness whichever you prefer.
My mom was trying to find something to wear for the banquet Wednesday night so we walked all over the place and then to have to find jewelry. You would have thought that would have been easy but she eventually found it at JCPenney - imagine that. I did get to run into one of my favorite stores in NYC - H&M and let me just say how excited I am that one is coming to Jacksonville - YIPPEEE!!!
So we finally finished up shopping around 9PM and haven't eaten yet so what better way to finish up our night than with chocolate at Max Brennar's. The smell when you walk in is so heavenly. We ate small with a couple of appetizer's and then finished off with fondue that Sandy and I ate with a spoon when we ran out of items to dip.
Since it was so late when we finished and Sandy was pretty tired, she decided that we would catch a cab on the way home. They sent me out to do it even though it was my first time - Jason and I usually ride the subway or a taxi to and from the airport but never in the city. Well, I quickly hailed a cab but when we got in a told the driver where we were going he said he was new and we would have to tell him how to get there. Well, we quickly got out of that cab and hailed cab #2 very successfully and made it to our hotel VERY QUICKLY and safe.
In our taxi
Taking in the sights
I was so sad to leave the city Thursday night because I absolutely love the city and can't wait to go back. I pray that the help we provided to Bro. Ken was helpful and I am so glad we were able to see part of what he does so we can better pray for him.
