Every day I see something in philly that I realize I will miss. Most of the time its when I’m jay walking across Broad on a clear day. The city-scape, mainly the figure of William Penn in the distance, gets me every time and I’ve come to realize that about a week or two after I am home, I’ll think back and reminisce.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Deeney

In the meantime, I’ll just think back over the week that was, or the weekend in particular. My weekends always start on a Thursday night. This weekend was great because I had a little bit of homework to do and when Friday rolled around, I put the little I had left off til Sunday. Come Friday afternoon, setup for the garden party was in full swing and I set up the sound system that would drive the evening.

Photo Courtesy of Kelsey Schwartz

After dinner and a short concert, I hit the power to the colored disco balls and the strobe. It took a while until the dance floor filled up. The evening wound down close to midnight, a great success.

Photo Courtesy of Kelsey Schwartz

We even got a few looks from the frat next door. Saturday morning came early as a small group traveled over to the Uber street gardens of Urban Tree Connection. Some students weeded a few beds while I helped to finish the rain shelter. Others unloaded coffee grounds, and one student even found a small snake.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Deeney

That afternoon, I was supposed to go to Penn Relays to see Usain Bolt run his 8.79 split in the US vs. the World 4×100m relay, but as all ill laid plans, it fell through. A few students went to the zoo and came back quite satisfied after seeing rhinos, peacocks, giraffes zebras and all kinds of monkeys.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Deeney

Celebration weekend continued as small groups went out to various restaurants. Laura, Laurie, Josh, BA and I went to the Ethio Café. If you have never eaten Ethiopian before, the food is great. There are a bunch of different flavors and even some spicy peppers. Ask Jacob. He’s never had a pepper that hot before. Even better, it’s pretty inexpensive. For a little over 30 bucks, we fed five people. Not bad. Following dinner, the group devoured various cakes and watched a little Bill Cosby.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Deeney

Celebration weekend continues some next weekend, and next Monday in particular with Celebration Chapel.

LOVE. PHILLY.

Derek

Every day I get up and go down to the caf and grab breakfast before I head out to class. The cost to my back pocket: $ 0. About noon, I head over to J & H or the Sac and use my card to buy a meal, but it still doesn’t cost me anything (unless you count student loans for the next decade). Then, about 6 every evening, Irby brings over dinner to the caf. Once again, it costs me nothing but the effort to get off my lazy butt and get it.

One of my first Sunday’s at Epiphany, Pastor Eric brought up one of the best points I have heard in my last three years in college. The term “poor college student” is a misnomer. For most students, and all students at MCPC, we are housed and fed.  We have two of the most important things in life, and then we have a bonus, “free” wireless. God forbid we not have plentiful and reliable wireless internet access.

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

This weekend, a few students at MCPC had an event for “Hunger and Homelessness Month.” Not having any other plans, and choosing not to do homework, I tagged along on the first event on Friday evening. We were each given $ 2 to buy dinner for ourselves. This was in an effort to represent only having a minimum amount of cash to buy our meal for the day. Some of us ended up in a variety of fast food places. This helped me to realize a few things.

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Baranik

First, there is so very little that you can get for $ 2. Second, what you can get doesn’t normally constitute a real meal. And finally, if you went the way I did and got a fast food meal, the available choices tend to be unhealthy when compared to what I would prefer to eat.

The weekend continued with a screening of the Soloist, 24 hours of prayer, and donations of meals from wealthy Temple Id cards.

I choose not to participate in the donation of meals and what’s more, I was treated to a luxurious dinner at Parc, a Steven Starr restaurant near Rittenhouse Square. The meal was very good; however it could have provided me with a daily McDonalds’ dollar meal through May. It’s quite a juxtaposition.

Photo Courtesy of Visitphilly.com

As I have said before, I don’t think that a huge healthcare plan is the answer. I can’t prove it, but it would seem that making healthy and cost efficient food available to everyone would be a better idea. The benefits of local urban greening programs and farmer’s markets have been proven though. Just something to think about until next week, until then…

LOVE. PHILLY.

Derek

It’s hard to imagine that it’s already Monday. My weekend just flew by and when my alarm went off, I had to ask myself what day it was. Thankfully, I had minimal work to do this weekend and very little this week as well. Sadly, it’s time I start nailing out the final papers and such for classes while I still have time. I am continually astonished by how fast time flies by. The number 3 has popped out of a lot of mouths lately. While there is still a month before I find myself at home for the summer, there are only 3 weeks of classes left. Scary. So I guess it’s time to get to work and get those things done before I run out of time.

While I was at home this weekend (long enough to eat, sleep and leave) I saw that our garden was ready to be planted. I really love to garden in the summer. The growth is always one of those things that seem surreal. Growth is one of god’s blessings.

Photo Courtesy of Sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Last Monday marked the beginning of the Major League Baseball season. I am an Orioles fan, so I am rather indifferent about the Phillies. But for the sake of the last few weeks I guess I can be a fan. When the players took the field, they had to rely on their teammates, the work they did in the off season and believe that they could be successful.

Curveball. The last few weeks left, gardening and baseball have all just connected in my mind.

There is a lot that can be done in the last three weeks. In a world where one instant can change the world you live in, why not take the last three weeks and change something or develop something for someone else. Over the next three weeks, pick your project. Pray about it (getting the ground ready to plant) and then when the time is right, plant your project in fertile soil. Take care of it by nourishing it and giving it lots of time and effort. Then keep at it and see how the fruits of your labor turn out.

Just as baseball takes a whole team, it might be necessary to grab a friend or two to plant your project. If you put in the work and believe you will be successful with God’s help you will succeed. And just as a garden’s success is hard to see completely until harvest in the fall and as the strength of a baseball team is only determined come October, how well your project grows may not be understood until next fall, the work you put in now may mean a world of difference.

Photo Courtesy of Lisa Wingard

“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience”

Col. 1:10-11

Love. Philly.

Derek

It’s why I’m here. It’s why I got into digital editing. It’s why I went to Messiah. It’s why I just spent the last 20 minutes with a long overdue cry. I know I’m being vague, but “It” is so much. It’s so much of what I have become, what I do, and why. “It” is the impact of the legacy my sister left when she left this lousy earth to bow before the throne of God.

Who was Danielle Forney? To be honest, I wish I knew more. As any little brother whose sister was away at college, I was more concerned with   cross country, track, band, AP classes and all the  like to know what she was up to. I didn’t see her  much the last four years, but in some way I guess  I was then blessed to be the last to see her walk  out our front door and get into that little white  Chevy Corsica.

Paper says a lot about Danielle. It will tell you  she was smart, and gifted in many ways. Danielle graduated Summa Cum Laude from Messiah College in 2006, just a few weeks before her tragic end. She also graduated with Honors in Communication. Her honors project was titled “Imaging the Homeless,” a group that Danielle had a certain passion for. Paper will also tell you Danielle was dedicated to service. She spent countless hours at the Silence of Mary home during her four years at Messiah.

There she helped with whatever needed done, but especially loved the children. Less than a year after her untimely death, a playground was built in her honor for the kids she loved to serve.

Danielle’s service continues today through a campus group called Tabitha’s. Founded in 2005, Tabitha’s is named after a woman in Acts who was known for her service to the poor. The group knits and crochets hats, scarves, gloves, etc to distribute to the poor in Harrisburg.

Paper also said a lot about Danielle once she died. An email thread sent around by professors following her death spoke highly of her, saying, “Danielle didn’t speak much, but when she did, her peers listened because what she had to say meant something.”

So why talk about Danielle today, in a context of Philly? A few reasons…

Today would have been Danielle’s 26th birthday. As a Messiah Communications student, Danielle attended MCPC during the spring of ’05. And like many other things, I followed suit 5 years later. Danielle loved Philly. The aspect of community, service and love for your neighbor was a perfect fit for her. As many said following her death, Danielle was meant for big things, and there’s no place like Philly to get a start.

Like I said previously, Danielle and her death are the reason I came to Messiah, got into digital editing, and had to come to MCPC. I didn’t really look at any other colleges the year after Danielle died, but I had met so many people that spoke of this incredible woman that I didn’t quite know. So, I had to find out for myself. What was it about Messiah that made her who she was? I have never made a better decision in my life. My years at Messiah, although painful at times, have shown me who Danielle was and how she came to be that person. A friend of Danielle’s sent our family a slideshow following  theaccident. Many photos were of Danielle in Philly.

Although I was going to major in engineering, I was  inspired, and made my own memorial video. Almost  four years later, I am a double major in Broadcasting  and Communications/Public Relations. And due to the  Broadcasting major, I had to go to MCPC. Another one  of those best decisions of my life. Who knew that I  would go to Messiah and end up a Comm. major at  MCPC? God did.

The other important aspect of the timeliness of the story is Easter. Resurrection. As I fight back tears again, I praise God that due to the sacrifice of his son on the cross and his resurrection that conquered sin and DEATH, I will see Danielle some day. At the candle lit service that started my Messiah education, we sang a song that has defined this in ways I can’t myself, In Christ Alone. Without the resurrection of Christ, I would not be able to stand here in his love, freed of sin.

“Then bursting forth in glorious Day, Up from the grave he rose again!And he  stands in victory, Sins curse has lost its grip on me.  For I am his and He is mine- bought with the  precious blood of Christ… No guilt in life, no fear in    death, this is the power of Christ in me; From life’s  first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my  destiny.”

These lines speak the power of Christ resurrection  and the ability that all who have fallen asleep will  have to conquer death and the grave to praise our  Father for eternity. When I remember Danielle and  how much I miss her, I am comforted by the blessing we have as Christians to not fear death. Instead I can rise and praise God for the life that he blessed the world with.

I want to end on a passage that reminds me so  much of Danielle. Matthew 25:31-40 (NIV) is  often referred to as “The Sheep and the Goats.”

31″When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and  all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne  in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be  gathered before him, and he will separate the  people one from another as a shepherd  separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will  put the sheep on his right and the goats on his  left. 34″Then the King will say to those on his  right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Danielle’s Candle- My first editing experience

Go into the world and light your candle, and then your world.  Remember that it is only because of the resurrection that we can take joy in life and death, but most importantly in Christ.

Danielle’s life (and ultimately her death) have greatly impacted my life. I wouldn’t be here if it never happened. I am blessed to have been a part of her great story. The rest is history. If you would like to know  anything else about Danielle, her life, or service,  or  Silence of Mary, Tabitha’s, or Messiah College  Philadelphia Campus, please feel free to email me  at df1185@messiah.edu

LOVE. PHILLY.

Derek