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

(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.

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.

Amy: BWC helped IGNITE my time…

Amy Bullock, from UMass Dartmouth, attended BWC last year. For her it was an experience that completely changed the way she approached her life at school the following semester.

“It was truly beneficial reconnecting with my campus fellowship during winter break and being encouraged by staff and speakers. BWC is four days of praise and worship, sermons and deepening your relationship with God. You will return from the conference on fire for God and even more in love with him. BWC will equip you to impact friends, family and your campus. It will be the highlight of your winter break after Christmas, which is key! Your enthusiasm will carry over to your semester.”

“The highlight of BWC for me was a small-group session with Susy Silk. She spoke on managing time, and encouraged us to do things with purpose. She challenged us to evaluate our schedules and weed out the nonessentials. A lot of things we commit our time to really have no eternal impact, so why are we spending so much time on them? For me it was all the clubs I had joined as resume boosters or related to my major. Being so involved was keeping me from having prayer and quiet time in my daily schedule. It was also keeping me from being intentional in relationships. I had friends, but in how many of those friendships was I really investing in the other person, and encouraging them to follow God?”

“God clearly showed me that I needed to make more time for him. Some of the clubs I was investing my time in were not bearing fruit, and that time could be better used for Him. Now I make time for God’s word and for other people – my time is being used for eternity.”