Help a High School Student to Transition Well to College
Did you know that there is a fun, engaging event for HS seniors happening the first day of the BWC??
The Transition Track is designed to help prepare college-bound seniors to own, live, and share their faith during their university years.
Check out the website: transitiontrack.com
Is there a special senior in your life, a brother, sister, friend or cousin who could benefit from this one-day conference? Invite them today!
Updated: BWC Blood Drive 2010
Did you know you can bless the city of Boston and the state of MA by donating blood at the BWC? MA is the only state in the union that must import blood due to it’s small size and a high concentration of major health care providers.
Giving blood is easy and makes a real difference in the lives of others who have been in God’s image. You would think that those who follow Jesus would know a thing or two about giving blood. Share the grace and mercy of the Kingdom of God by sharing your blood with someone who needs it.
To give, please CLICK HERE to schedule an appointment for the January 5 blood drive at the Sheraton Boston Hotel during the BWC.
PLEASE SCHEDULE NOW, so that the Red Cross knows that they can count on you and many others to give blood on that day. The Red Cross responds to demand to determine how many resources to devote to a drive. Make your appointment today so that the Red Cross can plan to be ready for hundreds of donors.
Here’s a recap of the first ever BWC Blood Drive last year.
Update: Parking at BWC Deal
Update: Parking Passes at BWC
As mentioned here, Your best bet is to arrive by bus, train or plane and use public transportation (MBTA Public Transportation). If at all possible don’t drive to the Sheraton Boston. Parking can be expensive and challenging.
However, we have new information on the Parking Passes since our last update.
Anyone who does not pre-order their pass can still get passes but it will cost $36 (on-site when they show up) instead of $24.
And the deadline to pre-order the $24 pass has been extended until Dec. 27th.
Cost: $24 (pre-order) for January 1-6 (must leave the parking lot by 1:30pm on the 6th) – you can pay an extra $12 if you need to park the whole day on the 6th. Location: about 1.7 miles from the Sheraton on the MIT campus. Click on this link to see the location and directions: parking map
How to get to the Sheraton from parking lot: walk to Massachusetts Ave and take the 1 Bus across the river to the Hynes bus stop and walk about 3 minutes to the Sheraton. Cost of a bus ride is $1.50. You would also take the 1 Bus back over the river to MIT to return to the parking lot.
Other Details: You can come and go anytime. You will need to have the parking pass in your car at all times. MIT is not responsible for stolen items from your car. Just don’t leave anything of value in your car.
To order, fill out this form.
Between You and…God
A lot of times I can get wrapped up in the music during times of worship at church or at my Campus Crusade ministry. I love singing and playing the
piano, and have been teaching myself to harmonize for the last several years. That was an exciting challenge – I love finding the gaps in the harmonies and creating my own melody line that will blend with the leader’s voice. But a lot of times this distracts from the real reason I am there.
Music is one of those things that speaks straight to our hearts. Musicians have created the heart music for every decade, crafting the soundtrack for entire generations. Music can pull us back to a specific moment in our past, or evoke an emotion that has remained hidden for years. It pulls us into a certain frame of mind, outside of ourselves, more powerfully than almost anything else we experience.
One of my favorite quotes is by T.S. Eliot, who talked about
music heard so deeply That it is not heard at all, but you are the music While the music lasts. Music can pull you in until you are unaware of what is going on around you. And that is how God created it to be. He wanted to give us a stage on which we can let everything else go, separate ourselves from the worries or other things in our minds, and just experience Him. We are meant to have the freedom of David, who danced before the Lord with such abandon that the people around him thought he was acting inappropriately. Don't be afraid to offend. Don't think about what you sound like or what you look like. This is your time to meet with God, unobstructed.
A Word about the Natives
Just so you know, the following are (apparently) Massachusetts law, so be careful not to do any of them while you are here. When in Rome…
- No one may cross the Boston Common without carrying a shotgun in case of bears.
- It is illegal to deliver diapers on Sunday.
- It is illegal to eat peanuts in court.
- It is illegal for anyone at a wake to eat more than three sandwiches.
- It is against the law for taxi drivers to make love in the front seat during their shift.
- It is illegal to kiss in front of a church.
- All PDA (Public Display of Affection) is illegal on Sunday.
- It is legal to allow one’s livestock to graze on public grounds except on Sunday.
- It is illegal to have frog-jumping contests within the city limits.
- Duels to the death permitted on the common on Sundays provided that the Governor is present.
Some other pieces of information you can enlighten your friends with…
- Most of what we now know of as Boston is on landfill. The Boston Commons used to be on the Shore.
- Joy Street on Beacon Hill was so named because it was the street where the brothels were.
- One of the most recognizable weather vanes in town is on top of Faneuil Hall – a grasshopper.
- The Boston Marathon, America’s first annual race, began in 1897, with 15 participants
- The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
Have a Happy Half Day
So, BWC isn’t all seminars and worship; in fact, you will have plenty of free time to hang out with your friends and see the city.
The Freedom Trail also zig-zags through Boston, taking you to most of the major historical sites along the way. You can take a walking tour of the trail or buy a map at the Visitor Center at the Boston Common.
A Time for Us, a Place for Us
Boston is full of interesting culinary experiences. All of the ones I’ve listed below are within walking distance of the hotel.
Dinner/Lunch
Cheesecake Factory
(617) 399-7777
Boloco
137 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA
(617) 369-9087
>> Really good, healthy burritos. Think Chipotle goes organic.
The Upper Crust Pizzeria
222 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02116
(617) 262-0090
>> Some of the best pizza in Boston, Upper Crust will change the way you think about pizza.
Wagamama
Ste 117, 800 Boylston St, Boston, MA – (617) 778-2344
>> Mind-blowing Japanese food and “raw” juice. They also have really good salad.
McDonald’s
(617) 236-8145
Snacks
Trader Joe’s
899 Boylston St, Boston, MA
(617) 262-6505
94 Belvidere St,Boston, MA
(617) 262-0251
Coffee
Starbucks
39 Dalton St, Boston, MA
Dunkin’ Donuts
153 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA
(617) 247-3861
Au Bon Pain
251 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, MA
(617) 267-3524
Things to See
The North End
300 Hanover St, Boston, MA
>> Boston’s Italian Quarter, with several good restaurants and pastry shops. The atmosphere is bustling and the streets smell like garlic bread!
Public Garden
15 Arlington St, Boston, MA
>> The scene for “Make Way for Ducklings” and the Swan Boat scene in The Trumpet of the Swan.
Museum of Fine Arts
100 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA
(617) 369-6500
>> One of America’s fines art museums.
The Freedom Trail
(617) 536-4100
>> Starting at Boston Commons and Park Street Station, this is a red painted line that goes all through the city, passing all the major historical points, including Fanieul Hall, Paul Revere’s House, the oldest church in Boston, and the Bunker Hill monument. Pick up a map for $3 in the Visitor’s Center at the beginning of the trail for a self-guided tour, or grab our free audio tour mp3 online for your ipod.
A Penny for Every Time I Said That
I always dream big. I have a few life goals I have yet to fulfill. Here are a few I thought I would share with you….
- Be on a boat out of sight of shore (actually I am pretty sure I did this on a cruise last January, but I couldn’t really tell because the ships only travel during the night)
- Live in a Spanish-speaking country and finally become fluent in Spanish
- Have twins (I know, this one isn’t up to me. I just think they are so cute!)
- Backpack…somewhere…. I just like the idea of living on as little as possible and experiencing life at its most basic.
- See the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg
- Eat Chinese food in China (though I think they eat some pretty weird stuff…)
- Spend a year in full-time ministry
I always dream so big. But when it comes down to it, I never know if I am brave enough go through with what I’ve planned. There are some things in life, though, that are worth making sacrifices for. Think about people who have done truly amazing things – climbing Mount Everest, or discovering an ancient ruin. These people had to give up what could have been a comfortable life at home, but in the end they knew it was worthwhile. I realize going to Winter Conference is slightly less of an accomplishment, but just think of what might be holding you back from going. Is it seriously the 5 days at home, or the $200 that you wanted to spend on new clothes? Think about giving that up for Conference – an experience that may become a “lifetime achievement.”
You Are Not Your Own
I am 21 years old, and still asking myself what I want to do when I grow up. As a senior, I’m soon actually going to have to find (or ad lib) an answer to that question. I feel like my life journey has brought me to the edge of a cliff and left me wondering where exactly to go next. Right now the temptation is to just jump off the edge and hope I land somewhere soft. But there has to be a better way….
Sometimes I wish there was just a map to life. A big part of me has just always expected that at some point I will be handed all the answers. At first I thought it would be high school graduation – choose a college, choose a major, and then suddenly your life path appears on the horizon. Or maybe at some point in college I would suddenly know which lucky guy friend I will end up marrying. But as of now, this has not become a reality, and I am starting to realize that maybe God doesn’t work that way. Yes, He calls us to be obedient, and to follow Him, but He sometimes leaves us in doubt as to what exactly that means. Like for instance, now, when we are standing on the edge of that precipice, looking out on the Rest of Our Lives.
There have been times when it should have been clear. I feel like there are a lot of examples in my life where I can look back and see a fork in the road, one marked “God’s will,” and the other marked “Danger! Danger!” But it is never that clear when you are in the midst of it. There is a fog of selfishness and sin that obscures the road sign and leads us happily down the wrong path.
In my case it was thinking that a relationship with a boyfriend was the most important thing in my life – worth sacrificing relationships with others and my relationship with God for. The lie was perfect because, of course, relationships are a good thing. I still think so. But small compromises, physically and spiritually, made me hide things: first from the people in my campus ministry, then from my close friends, then from God. I fled, like Jonah, to the least secure of all the places I could hide: my own heart.
This is how I walked away from where I know God was calling me. I knew I should have been taking time for others in my campus ministry, where I was on leadership, but I felt like I was the one who needed to be ministered to. God has me at college to minister to my friends and to work hard in my classes, and to live out the freedom of the Gospel on a campus that sometimes seems to be all about rules, but I was trapped in fear and guilt.
I can’t say that this understanding of his will for me is something that God proclaimed to me through one of His people, or that He told me in a dream. It comes from the calling that we all have to live openly before Him, confessing our sin so that we can have fellowship with God. It comes from being open with others and learning how to live in deep, honest relationship. But this calling will lead us to where we are supposed to go later on in life. If you are living honestly with God, you can perhaps follow the wrong path. But when you realize it, you fix your mistake, confess it to Him, and move ahead. It doesn’t have to cripple you.
God may have specific plans for you, like going on the missions field, or going into a specific career. But what He wants from you right now is just you. Give up your past and future to live now for Him, and He will guide you. God’s will might come as a map for the life ahead of you, but most likely it will come in tiny, bit-by-bit steps. He asks us to trust Him and just look at His face as He places our feet on firm ground.
So right now, when you feel like you’re standing on the edge of a cliff, God is probably building a bridge for you to cross. It may not look like the straight, solid bridge you might hope for, but He won’t let you fall. Even though you can only take one step at a time, God knows where you’re going, and He will show you where to place your feet.
Winter Conference has been in my life a place to stand convicted, to let God show you where you have slipped – but also a safe place to learn how to listen to God’s voice. It offers four days free from distraction, and teaching that will help you begin to trust God, step by step.
$50 before Noon on Tuesday
One more person will win $50 for BWC in the next two and one half days.
Tuesday, December 15th at noon EST is the deadline to pay only $195 for four days and five nights at the Sheraton Boston Hotel for BWC. In order to get this great rate you must register for BWC with a $50 deposit before Tuesday’s deadline. After Tuesday, it will cost you $30 more to experience the faith building reality of the Boston Winter Conference.
Don’t wait, register now. If you have friends who haven’t registered, tell them to do so now.
Why?
Someone who registers with paid deposit between now and Tuesday at noon is going to win a $50 scholarship to BWC. Watch this space for the winner after Tuesday.
Jump in, so you can win. BWC will be worth far more than what it costs. Don’t miss it.
