help my unbelief

10.  Scoops

9.  Lux Touch

8.  Catan

7.  Fruit Ninja

6.  Ninjump

5.  Doodlejump

4.  Tiny Wings

3.  Plants Vs. Zombies

2.  Words with Friends

1.  Angry Birds

so despite spending over 15 hours in transit to and from ithaca this weekend and going from playing basketball outside on thursday in temperatures around the mid 50s to below freezing temperatures in ithaca on friday, i can say that visiting ithaca was well worth the trip and the cold. 

it was worth it because of one thing:  encouragement

although i love my job,the incredible work life balance, the income that it brings, and the friends i’ve made here in the dc metro area, i must admit that it often gets lonely here in arlington, virginia.  i think as i’m getting older, it’s also getting harder for me to reach out to people like i used to.  also, going from being the oldest in a particular community, to being the youngest has been  intimidating indeed.

but this weekend i personally saw the hand of our Father working in so many ways that i feel hard pressed to recap everything here.  i saw CARE ministry (aw CARE ministry) truly serving (and i quote) through the overflow of God’s grace in their lives with a renewed focus toward prayer. i must admit that so many times while leading CARE, i relied so much on my own strength rather than asking God to guide His ministry as he would see fit.  as a result of CARE’s brokenness and trusting in God, i felt this sense of cohesion and this sense that everything was just fitting together the entire weekend in terms of CARE’s support and service for the Haiti Missions team as well.  everything from coin wars to fundraising at ADORe while giving brothers and sisters a wonderful environment to reflect on the semester just seemed right.

i witnessed firsthand ADORe, where many brothers and sisters shared what God has been teaching them throughout this semester,how God has broken them this semester,  how God has blessed them this semester, and how he has sustained them this semester, and as stupid as this sounds, there’s a particular sovereignty in seeing God’s protection and guidance even after you’ve left a particular community.

i saw the dedication and discipline of the Haiti missions team in their preparation, waking up every saturday at 7AM (maybe its even earlier, i wouldn’t know), and working so hard to learn another language all in the name of spreading the Gospel.  how beautiful beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.  i am proud, excited, and incredibly blessed to be able to partner with them through both prayer and funding in sending out these brothers and sisters

i observed the simple community building activities of secret santa in each class, and i am overjoyed at the edification i see in these class activities.  i’ve rarely seen so much thought put into some of the gifts that i saw this year, and see each and every class growing more and more with each visit to ithaca. i was reminded of our own class’ community as the seniors took the stage during ADORe for the christmas caroling (ours was better, we were cuter, end of discussion)

i’ve seen so many leaders step up this semester, and allow God to just use them in humility.  i’ve seen small groups start up and just flourish through accountability and prayer. every time i return to ithaca for praise, it is a blessing i’m again thankful that God is sovereign in his grace and mercy in order to allow these things

i’m sure i’ve forgotten something or someone, and will try to add more later, but in conclusion, my visit to ithaca was truly a blessing and an encouragement, not just because i discovered an amazing new board game (quelf), and not just because i got to spend time with you all, but because through fellowship, community, and spiritual growth i have seen in all of you has truly convicted me to share this with you in hopes that you can be encouraged and press on!

so if you guys are in nyc, these places are great… props to andrea and andy who took me to a lot of these places first.

Restaurant

Price

Location

Must -Haves

Minetta Tavern
(Must eat at bar or reserve)

$30 (dinner)

Greenwich Village Area

113 MacDougal Street
(212) 475-3850

Bone Marrow

Black Label Burger

Jean Georges

(Must reserve)

Spring Promo

$26 (lunch)

$38 (dinner)

Columbus Circle Area

1 Central Park W.

(646) 200-5919

Seasonal

Stand

(Burgers)

$15

Greenwich Village Area

24 E 12th St

(212) 488-5900

Marshmallow Milkshake

HB Burger

(Burgers)

$20

Times Square Area

127 West 43rd Street

(212) 575-5848

Burgers with Caramelized Onions

Shake Shack

(Burgers)

$15

Madison Square Park

11 Madison Avenue

(212) 889-6600‎

Burgers

Tao Restaurant

(Must Reserve)

(Asian Fusion)

$24 Pre-Fix Lunch

Midtown

42 East 58^th Street

(212) 888-2288

Peking Duck Spring Rolls

Chicken Pad Thai

Zen Parfait

Ippudo

(Ramen)

$10-$20

NoHo

65 4th Avenue

(212) 388-0088

Any Ramen Bowl is good

Momofuku Ssam Bar

$30

Lower East Side

207 2nd Ave

(212) 254-3500

Bbo Ssam
Pork Buns
Forgot what else I had

Marumi

(Sushi)

$15-$20

Greenwich Village Area

546 Laguardia Pl

(212) 979-7055

Cali Salad
Sashimi Salad

Blue Ribbon Sushi

$40

Midtown

308 West 58th Streetz

(212) 397-0404

White Tuna

Luzzo’s

(Pizza)

$15

Lower East Side

211 1st Avenue

(212) 473-7447

Calimari
Any of the Specialty Pizzas

Grimaldi’s

(Pizza)

$15

Brooklyn

19 Old Fulton St

(718) 858-4300

Any Pizza

Pommes Frites

(Belgian Cut Fries)

$7

St. Mark’s Area

123 2nd Avenue

(212) 674-1234

Sweet Mango Chutney Sauce

Clinton Street Bakery

$15

Lower East Side

4 Clinton Street

(646) 602-6263

Blueberry Pancakes

Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwich

Max Brenner

(Dessert)

$12

Union Square

841 Broadway

(212) 388-0030

Chocolate Mess!

Junior’s

(Cheesecakes & Desserts)

$10

Midtown Broadway Area

1515 Broadway

(212) 302-2000

Sundaes

Cheescakes

Thai Son

(Vietnamese)

$10

Chinatown

89 Baxter St

(212) 732-2822

House Special Pho

Ping’s Restaurant

(Dim Sum)

$20

Chinatown

22 Mott Street

(212) 602-9988

Fresh Dim Sum

Dim Sum GoGo

(Dim Sum)

$20

Chinatown

5 E Broadway

(212) 732-0796

Fresh Dim Sum

Hop Kee

(Chinese)

$20

Chinatown

21 Mott St

(212) 964-8365

Orange Pork

Pop Bar

(Made to order popsicles)

$5

Lower West Side

5 Carmine Street

(212) 255-4874

Hazelnut bar dipped in chocolate and hazelnuts

Aureole

(French)

$50

Midtown Broadway Area

135 West 42nd Street

(212) 319-1660

Forgot what I had here

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream

(It’s a truck)

$5

SoHo

Prince and Greene

(718) 701-1630

Any of there specialty Ice Cream Flavors

Momofuku Milk Bar

(Dessert)

$10

East Village

207 2^nd Ave

(212) 254-3500

Arnold Palmer Cake!

Croxley Ales

$10

East Village

28 Avenue B

(212) 253-6140

10 cent wings

Café Cortadito

(Cuban)

$20

East Village

210 E 3rd St

(212) 614-3080

Anything with steak in it

Joe Shanghai

(Chinese)

$15

Chinatown

9 Pell Street

(212) 233-8888

Soup Dumplings

Magnolia Bakery

$5

West Village

401 Bleecker Street

(212) 462-2572‎

Banana Pudding

Gam Mee Ok

(Korean)

$20

K-Town

43 West 32nd Street

(212) 695-4113

Bbo Ssam

Ssul Lang Tang

Q: Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods. One of those guys has to drive your drunken girlfriend or wife home. Who do you trust? And in what order?
— Conrad, Los Angeles

Since that’s obviously one of the most important questions in mailbag history, I e-mailed 18 of my friends asking them to rank those four guys from “most trustworthy” (four points) to “least trustworthy” (one point), then voted myself. Sadly, I can’t print the responses even though they were viciously funny. Here were the results from “most trustworthy” to “least trustworthy”:

Favre: 62 points.

The judges repeatedly pointed out that he’d be less dangerous as a driver and more dangerous with a cell phone in the confines of his own home. Great point.

Bryant: 47 points.

Keeping in tune with his career, he drew the most polarizing feedback. We’ll leave it at that.

Roethlisberger: 44 points.

He drew the most follow-up questions, with multiple judges asking, “Would he be drunk or sober?” I didn’t answer, I didn’t want to sway the jury.

Woods: 37 points.

Put it this way: The judges made it clear that they needed to see some progress from his sex rehab stint first. By the way, if you had showed me this question and answer two years ago and told me, “This will appear in your October 2010 mailbag,” my wife would still be picking pieces of my skull off the ceiling.