the bartending nanny

i am sitting in a starbucks that sits two blocks from my workplace in tribeca. i’m listening to a playlist i made to coincide with the individual precepts of the Lord’s prayer, and all i can think about is the south bronx.

i’m so thankful for the path that has led me to this place. well, not to starbucks, but to this spiritual place. i was in jail in florida at this time two years ago with plans to move to NYC at the summer’s end. my precious sister-in-law and brother had invited me to move in to their washington heights apartment, taking the job of nanny for my nephew, all the while allowing me to be close to my family and join the ranks of God’s kingdom in new york through trinity grace church. at that time, i had no idea i’d one day refill the water glass of scott harrison, the founder of charity water, in a trendy hotel restaurant owned by an iron chef runner-up who, quite honestly, most fans think should’ve won.

all the water irony and “cool new york stuff” pales in comparison to the honor of my Father’s patience and persistence to finish what he began in me 14 years ago. what that means today is that God has called me to move to the south bronx this summer, and i couldn’t be more excited.

don’t get me wrong; i ADORE the new york murphys and our experience as roommates. without them, it would’ve taken me even longer to get here (if even i ever would’ve made it) and even longer to grow up enough through their examples to listen to the Lord. i dare say that their commitment to Christ and his church has been hugely influential in my maturity in faith. what leaders they are!

there are others who’ve influenced, prayer warriors who’ve committed and about 1,000 nano-stories i could tell about the last few months. for now, i’ll ask you to pray and keep reading. if you hate reading or don’t care to, would you still pray? the enemy wants to distract me, striving to make me ineffective by believing lies. already i’ve dealt with dishonest spiritual whispers such as: “you don’t need to pray or feed on the word as much now that you have your answer about your calling” or “are you sure this is the answer because you’re making no impact”.

please pray specifically that i will not try to do the Spirit’s job. pray, as i’ve mentioned before, that i would “be still, listen and obey”. pray for this ministry and this neighborhood.

lastly, you can now follow sara’s ministry on twitter, if you’ve been captured in the jaws of that social media monster, by finding @ahouseonbeekman. if you follow me, you’ll see plenty of her tweets.

it’s funny, i planned on this bartending nanny blog to be anonymous and hip like the one created by the author of “waiter rant”, and now it couldn’t be more the opposite. eventually, i’ll be sending out some sort of e-newsletter to friends and family to keep everyone abreast of all the happenings. some have already asked for their inclusion, but if you’re interested and unsure if you’re already included, shoot me an e-mail at benjaminartismurphy[at]gmail[dot]com. this will also make me sure that you want to be kept up to speed.

ugh, just reread this entry and feel it’s a bit scatterbrained, but as it’s my 8th or 9th attempt to let you know of this specific calling, i’m gonna post it anyway. i’m confident that God will make it more readable than i am able to see it now. i’ll win a pulitzer prize another day. thanks for reading.