Last month I had the opportunity to go to New York City with some of the women at my church. We went to New York to go to Hillsong Church’s women conference. There was between 40-45 women from my church on this trip. Some of the women I knew fairly well, but many women were on the trip that I had never met before. While on this trip I saw God in many ways, and He taught me a lot about Him. I learned about gratefulness, the power of prayer, and community.

I learned to appreciate my home. I have been born and raised in the south. I have lived in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina. I learned to appreciate my southern roots when I was in New York. The culture there was very different than what I am used to. I never really considered myself to be very southern, but once going to New York I realized how southern I am. I’m certain when I was in New York City it was obvious I was not from there.

Prayer is an important tool that God has given us, and it’s one tool that I don’t utilize like I should. At one point in the conference one of the ladies at our church asked to pray for me. I thought it was cool for her to pray for me and my future. It was comforting to know I was prayed for. I realized that I need to pray for others more. I tend to have mostly self-focused prayers. I should be praying for others more than just when they ask me to pray for them. It’s not that I don’t believe the power of prayer, but it’s more that it not the first thing that comes to mind in a situation. This is something that I could get better with doing.

Building community with the people in your life is crucial to getting the most out of the life that God has given us. This trip was a good opportunity to meet new people, and I could become closer with people that I normally only briefly talk to. It was good to see people out of a church setting. I got to learn more about their lives that normally wouldn’t have been discussed in the few minutes I would talk to them at church.

I enjoyed this life changing experience that I got while I was in New York City. I definitely want to go back to New York City for another trip, but until then I will continue to learn more about God where I am now.

Scripture Reference

• “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” ~Psalm 126:3 NIV
• “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” ~James 5:13 NIV
• “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” ~Luke 18:1 NIV
• “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” ~Romans 15:7 ESV

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