Home Again

One of the things about being back in NY is visiting places we use to go and live. We went to dinner at a friend’s house and found ourselves in our old neighborhood in Queens Village. We drove by our old house (pictured above) and it’s changed. There was a chain linked fence that that wasn’t there before and a new door.

We also passed by this little bodega we would go to a block away (pictured below). I remember my daughter wanting to be a big girl and walk to the store for milk for me by herself. After she kept begging for so long, I let her, but what she didn’t know was that I followed her. Seriously, it’s NY. I hid behind the trees and cars and watched her the whole way.

The neighborhood was changing when we lived there and I was feeling unsafe. I always felt like our block was in a protective bubble. There wasn’t any trouble on our block. My next door neighbor was a retired policeman.

A crack house popped up two doors down but was quickly closed. What were they thinking – operating a crack house next to a policeman’s home? I guess they would have liked to know that information before moving in.

I remember going to Jamaica Ave. (which was only 3 blocks away) for something one day and saw a lone prostitute walking the streets. I begged God to take me somewhere safer for my kids.

We knew we were moving to West Virginia at that time, but didn’t know the exact timing of the move. It wasn’t long before we moved. Our time in West Virginia was challenging for us. We learned a lot about the ministry there. We did have the opportunity to touch the lives and be touched by some awesome people. It was really great to see some of them on our way back to NY.

We live on Long Island now and our neighborhood is nice. The neighbors are friendly and the church is not very far away. I’m very excited about this new phase in our lives. It seems like we have come full circle. We are not the same people who left 16 years ago. We have grown and matured. At least I would like to think so.

We are reconnecting with friends we had 16 years ago and it feels like no time has passed when we get together. Tom and I are grateful for the wonderful church family we have now and are honored that God would choose us to be a part of their lives. We’ve only been here about 7 weeks, but it feels in so many ways we have been here all our lives. I guess you can go home again.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

iphone 3GS

This morning I was up at 5 am. Why so early? The idea was to leave by six and be one of the first people online for the iphone. I got up and made coffee for Tom and I. We ate cereal and we were ready to start our day.

Tom started the car . . . click, click, click. That can’t be good. He tried again . . . click, click, click. Hmmmm. Wait! Was that smoke coming from under the hood! Yikes! I saw Tom trying to blow flames out with his mouth and I knew this wasn’t good. (It’s okay to laugh at that visual, its funny now.) I went and got some water, but the water took its sweet time coming out of the faucet. Tom put out the fire. Poor guy has been waiting for the new iphone for so long. When we left WA in October the church gave us a parting gift for two new iphones. Tom waited because of the rumors of a new one on the horizon.

What to do?

Logic states we need a car and not just to get our new phones. Enterprise came to pick us up so we can rent a car for the weekend. Hey when your car goes on fire, it’s usually not a good sign that you will have a vehicle for the weekend. I called the mechanic and a tow truck. The car is in his hands now. Hopefully this will end well.

After picking up our rental we were on our way. Would it be that easy? No . . . why? Because we hit one of the biggest potholes I’ve seen. There was a car in front of us and we didn’t see it until we ran right over it. It cracked the hubcap. When renting a car I never, ever take the extra insurance. We have good car insurance and that usually covers your rental. I never had a problem with a rental car but somehow I knew this morning that it would be a good idea for the weekend to take the extra insurance. Good thing too because Enterprise will take of it and they gave us a new car to drive around. Thank you God for speaking to me.

iphone anyone?

We make it to the Apple store and the line wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. We had preordered the phones and our names were on a list. So now we have our phones – sweet! Tom has a blue cover and I got the red one. So now I’m off to play with my new phone.

If anyone out there has an iphone and has a favorite app or two, please let me know what it is and why you love it.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

How He Love Us

Tom used this song at the end of his message on Sunday. It's beautifully sung by Kim Walker from Jesus Culture. I hope it blesses you as much as it blessed me.

Tripping

Tripping as defined by Merriam Webster: to catch the foot against something so as to stumble or to make a mistake or false step.

I have trouble with tripping. I’m not talking about the 60’s kind of tripping. I trip all the time - weekly and sometimes daily. I think it’s because my feet are smaller than the rest of me. Anyway, this past week was one of my best “trips” ever.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but picture this: I was walking in my apartment and trying to drink at the same time. I have a large cup in my hand and my elbow is sticking out because I’m holding a cup to my lips. My elbow bangs (hard) against the door as my cup bangs into my mouth, causing me to bite my lip and spill the contents of my cup onto my shirt.

I stood there for a moment looking down at my shirt, rubbing my elbow and licking my sore lip. I could cry or laugh but instead I just stood there in stun disbelief.

Tom and I are teaching a class at our church called the Art of Hearing God. Even though it’s a class designed to help people hear God better, it focuses on character over gifting. I taught on the Dark Night of the Soul which is about when you find yourself in the wilderness and feel like God is far from you. In reality He is helping you draw closer to Him and seek Him out.

When I’m in a dark place I could “trip” and give up on my way to my destination. I could cry, laugh or just be paralyzed in stun disbelief when it happens. What I need to remind myself is if I “trip” it’s just a false step and I need to continue in the direction I am heading. If I stay the course, even if I “trip” He gets me to the other side.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Celebrating Love

Tom has been preaching about “Living Love.” These messages have been excellent. If you’re interested you can check it out at our church’s new website under the sermon tab.

Today, I celebrate love – my love for him and his for me. Twenty eighty years ago today we got married. It was the happiest day of my life. The week prior was spent in last minute preparations and butterflies flittering around in my stomach. On my wedding day all of that was gone and I woke up calm as could be. I was ready. I was only nineteen years old, but I was ready to be Tom’s wife and start our lives together. I knew even then that it was just a day that would go very quickly and would be over before I knew it.

I was thirty minutes late because of the photographer. Poor Tom thought my dad convinced me to call the whole thing off. I remember arriving at the church. I peeked in from the back and saw Tom pacing. He was the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. With each step I knew I was one step closer to being his wife. My heart was at peace and it was filled with love.

Twenty eight years later, I can honestly say he’s still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. My heart is filled with love and I’m proud to be his wife. I love him more with each passing day. Even though we went through tough times, we made it through together. Tom is my best friend. I could not have asked for a better father for my children.

Tom Zawacki, I love you. You’re a good man and I’m honored to be your wife. Know that I will always remain,

Forever Yours,
Nadine

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

Writing Quotes

I stumbled upon writing quotes that I’ve been posting on my fan page on Facebook. The first one I posted really tickled me:

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard

I love to read books. I love to gleam from the creativity of others. I appreciate the different styles writers use to communicate their imagination. My prose is more simplistic in style. I never graduated from college. English was my least favorite subject in high school. If you had to diagram a sentence to get to heaven, then I wouldn’t make it.

When I write I try to use less words to convey what I’m trying to say. I don’t know why I do that, it was probably something I picked up from one of my writing friends. I don’t have the most sophisticated style of writing, but I love doing it.

I read many blogs that convey many different styles of writing. Some of you out there would not consider yourselves writers, yet you write all the time and convey your thoughts with humor and keep the interest of your readers.

Merriam-Webster defines an author as:
1. One that originates or creates and
2. The writer of a literary work (as a book).

Hmmm. I find it interesting that the second meaning, not the first, is a person who wrote a book. Sometimes we get hung up on titles. I know many authors and some never had a book published. They are excellent writers that I learn so much from and I know it’s just a matter of time before their work is published.

So all you authors – those that originate or create – keep writing.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009

New Yorkers Again

I can’t believe we had to get a new driver’s license again. It was only seven months ago when we got our Texas license. I wrote about the craziness of that in the post, All I Wanted Was My Texas Driver’s License.

I went to the Department of Motor Vehicle to get the paper work for transferring a driver’s license and to register my car. I asked what proof they needed and got all of it over the weekend. This time because I had national car insurance they just transferred it to NY and gave me new proof of insurance. I didn’t have to get the car inspected until after the registration.

Tom and I went early but had to wait on a line. We got new pictures taken for our licenses, registered the car, signed up for voter registration all in one convenient location. All in all I can’t complain because from start to finish it only took an hour and a half. When I lived in Brooklyn, I went to the Brooklyn DMV and I stood on line for over three hours before I reached the front. By the time I left four and half hours of my life was gone never to be seen again.

Moving from one state to another is a hassle. Once you get things like change of address, gas hook-up, cable, driver’s license, etc. taken care of, you can then proceed forward without feeling like you have something hanging over your head.

We moved here a month ago and are now officially New Yorkers again. It’s been very exciting so far and I can’t wait for what lies ahead.

© Nadine Zawacki 2009