An Embassy and a Garden

     Yesterday, my mom and I journeyed over to the city to submit my application at the Polish embassy for permission to work and live in Katowice. I think it was a healthy, but mini-reintroduction to the language and culture for me. As we stepped through the heavy wooden side door, it was almost like walking into Poland itself and without even having to go through the arduous task of flying, so that was quite magical! I'm so excited that God seems to be so smoothly paving the way for me to spend a bit more of my life in Poland. In a way, it really has begun to feel more like home than where I am actually from (except, of course, that being with my family will always feel like home). I am thrilled to see who God has for me to meet, get to know and serve while teaching in Katowice. Another chapter is slowly being written and it's brilliant.
    
     After getting through the paperwork portion of the day, we walked to the Lower West Side for some belated Mother's Day celebrations. Mainly, we were looking to walk on the High Line, but we also ended up enjoying a few other great places that Chelsea has to offer. In case you're reading this and haven't previously heard of it, The High Line is a disused rail line above the streets for several blocks of the Lower West Side. Rather than tear it down, it has been turned into a public garden with a mixture of wild plants, trees, flowers, and artwork on display. It's lovely and if you've never been, you really should check it out. (I definitely recommend doing so on a weekday in the spring as weekends are wall-to-wall people and the plants are hard to see...)
     I think, though, my favorite part of  walking along through the garden was actually the fact that almost everyone up there seemed not to be from New York City. In fact, they seemed to be from all over the county and even the world. The cultural-obsessed geek inside of me was thrilled to pick out all the different languages as people passed and to have groups of friends and families asking me to take their picture together (which is one of my very favorite things to do for tourists). All these humans who had come to visit the city (including myself) seemed fascinated with this garden. I don't think it's that it's particularly impressive or gorgeous, because honestly, it's not. No, I think it is more so that it is a wonder to behold because of where it lives. Trees and wild plants and bushes aren't usually the scene most tourist come to New York to see, but the irony of this sprawling mile and a half garden growing right above and in between the dense concrete, brick, and glass all smashed together in typical New York fashion stirs up a real sense of wonder and awe in the very being of the human soul. It is as if we are up above the streets searching for beauty amongst the harshness of life. The more I thought about it afterwords, the more I realized how similar the experience was to the Christian life. We live in a broken, hard, aching and suffering world and because of this, most humans spend their lives searching for hope amidst the hurt and confusion. As Christians, we are called to be a resting place, a soft landing and at the same time a leading place where searching humans are pointed straight to the true Hope and Light of the world, Jesus Christ our Creator and Savior. I know that I myself fall short of this calling in life often, but that just proves to me so much more how Christ is the one who creates the beauty, heals the broken, and softens the hard. I'm so thankful He's invited me along to see His handiwork both in nature and even more so in His Kingdom work.