almost famous two

Another really amazing thing happened on my way to NYC over the weekend. I was sitting next to a pastor originally from NYC and we were discussing spiritual formation and passionate spirituality within his denomination. I could talk about that all day, except, I also wanted to talk about the subway. I love riding public transportation. Subways, trains, well, they're a good place for me to observe and interact with people.
I was asking this lovely gentleman about riding the subway late at night and he said, "of course, it's one of the safest cities in the world." Even though a nagging doubt lingered, I was excited.
Until I got to the airport and asked a gentlemen where to catch the subway.
He raised one eyebrow and asked, "you plan to ride it alone, tonight?" To which I confessed I didn't really want to shell out all kinds of cash for a cab. He told me about shared rides and their price. I was easily convinced it was the best thing to do and waited for him to contact me.
Guess what? He put me together with the three "kids" pictured above. And they were from none other than Grand Rapids. Crazy small world! But the exciting thing? They were in NYC for the media pre-screening of the new Narnia movie. They have a website about Narnia that has caught on beyond their wildest expectations. Disney pays them and invites them to things like this (the prescreening). So their whole week was set up to meet and interview the stars of the movie, along with the early screening, etc. They were completely geeked and excited.
And so we prayed together about their opportunities to talk to people about Jesus and just the overall witness they could have while in NYC around the famous people. And did I mention, they were kids? What a ride.

Oh, and, speaking of rides, we were in a big-ol STRETCH limo. Like celebrities ourselves. No subway this time. But still a great great experience.
In other news, we also visited one of my favorite places: the Apple store. Literally hundreds of people flooded in and out of this store. The checkout line alone was at least a hundred people long. That is pure craziness. Mostly folks from Europe a salesperson explained. (I suppose that's good for our economy.)
And if you haven't already guessed,
that's Barkley with me.
For those bugging me for a picture. :-)