Camryn's First Day of School

This morning Tondra and I walked (and rode the subways) both of our kids to school in New York City! Can you believe it? It seems like yesterday that we were contemplating moving - but here we are.

Today, Camryn started school at an excellent Christian school in Manhattan. Her acceptance into this school is truly a testament that God answers prayer and gives gifts of favor to his children. As soon as she walked through the door (as she held back the tears) her new teacher (from the south) asked her to be the class leader for today and she gladly accepted with a dry face. She talked all afternoon about her new friends and how cool it was to have lunch in Central Park! What an amazing day!

It's a joy to see our kids flourish and step out in faith. This move is about much more than Tondra and I relocating to plant a church. This is a family move in faith. Each of us has given up many things to make this move and we have all stepped out in faith into many new and wonderful things.

Please continue to pray for us...

• God's hand of protection, provision, peace, power and presence on each of us as we go throughout the day;


• Favor with everyone we come into contact with;


• To be lights in darkness;


• To decrease that God might increase. Amen.

Jaylen's first day of SCHOOL!!

He did it. Jaylen attended his first day of school today. His report - "It was all good". Thank you for your faithful prayers and support of Jaylen. He has met new friends, new teachers and will get his very own metro (subway) card tomorrow. He is really a funny guy. He actually thinks we are going to let him ride the subway by himself to school!!

Please keep Jaylen in your prayers as he will be challenged academically and socially this year. He is up for the challenge, but would like for you to lift him up in his new challenge.

Hello Kitty!

Near Toys-R-Us in Times Square there is a Hello Kitty store. I really like this store because Hello Kitty is my favorite kitty in the whole world. This is one of the reasons I wanted to move to New York! When I walked into the store I was shocked (that means surprised)! They had Hello Kitty everything – suitcases, backpacks, clothes, hats, pens, purses, jewelry, and much more! I enjoy shopping and I look forward to my next trip because there are a lot of things I have my eye on.

Please pray that:
1. I get more friends that live on my block or close by.
2. I will be able to come back to North Carolina and visit soon.

What’s Missing in this Picture?

You guessed it – MY TWO FRONT TEETH! At first I was afraid of my teeth falling out because I thought I would not look cute, but people tell me I look cute still (as you can see)!!

I have been waiting for a while for my teeth to fall out. All my other friends have already lost their front teeth. I also wanted some money under my pillow - how else do you think I could buy something at the Hello Kitty store? I was a brave girl because Jaylen (my brother) pulled my teeth out.

Photo Updates - Fun Shots

It's amazing how refreshing taking pictures can be. What's more amazing is our ability to share our photos with the ones we love! Enjoy - http://picasaweb.google.com/pastorgg/FunTimes.

The Gregory's

“Jaylen’s Believe It or Not”

Robert Ripley's life was an unbelievable adventure. For thirty-five years he explored the uncanny and witnessed the amazing. He was a world traveler who visited over 200 countries, seeing places few people had even heard of. Like Ripley, Jaylen is on an unbelievable adventure in New York City! Although hesitant in moving to NYC, Jaylen has found this strange land has exceeded his expectations. In his own words – Welcome to “Jaylen’s Believe It or Not”…

"I didn’t want to move to NYC when my parents first told me we were moving. Mainly due to the things that I had to give up that I really liked. But they really do have some things I like in NYC - and here they are:

• It has the most beautiful park 2 blocks away from me (Central Park).


• It has a turtle pound were you can catch turtles of all kinds.


• It has my favorite baseball team - the New York Yankees.


• My 2nd favorite quarter back Brett Farve who plays for the New York Jets is also here.


• It also has one of my favorite major league soccer teams - NYC Red Bulls - in which I have gone to a game with my Dad. I advise you to go to one too.


• NYC has the most wonderful shopping area (Times Square). I’ve already bought (we’ll my Dad has) many things there."

Please pray:

1. I will make more friends at school;


2. I will join a sports team; and


3. Pray for my parents to allow me to get a pet!

_______________________________

Wow! What a powerful life lesson. Like Jaylen, God has to ask every believer at times, “Will you believe me or not?” Many times we get so comfortable with the status quo and the familiar places in our lives (physically, mentally, spiritually, etc.) that we are afraid to believe God when he speaks.

In many respects we are like the Israelites when God spoke of his mighty deliverance from Egypt to the promise land. At times the Israelites complained of leaving the land they were comfortable with in order to walk through the wilderness to get to the land of promise. Yet for every complaint and objection, God showed the Israelites his faithfulness in leading them to a new land. It’s up to us to “believe God or not”. For Jaylen, he found out that God’s word is true – “God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” (Eph 3:20)

Are you believing God or not?

Apartment

Hello to all of our family, friends, supporters, encouragers, etc. Sorry we have been off line for the month of July (we got a little distracted with the small move and all)! Many people have emailed and called asking for all the updates and prayer requests. So here they are:

We arrived July 16th to a newly renovated apartment located on a tree-lined street in one of the greatest sections of New York City – Upper West Side. Although the first place fell through (see the blog dated June 25^th), God showed his hand of mercy and provision in a greater way. To view some photos of our new home please visit - http://picasaweb.google.com/pastorgg/OurNewHome02! Despite it being a two-bedroom one-bath apartment (a little small from where we are coming from) it is big and spacious for a NYC apartment. It has plenty of sun light with windows facing north throughout the living room and bedrooms. We have a nice size living room for entertaining, a dining room off to the side (extra bonus), and a kitchen with a half wall to allow full viewing of the front area from the kitchen. Daily we enjoy the private backyard (a common sitting area with a playground area for the kids), and short walks to two well-known parks (Central Park and Riverside). Although we brought our car with us, we love the short one block walk to either the red lines (1,2,3) or the blue lines (A,B,C). God has truly given us a gracious entry into New York living. Thanks for all of your prayers and advice.