At its best.

Back on Thursday was my trip out to the city. I've never visited a large city on the Eastern side of the States, so I was excited. Clinton Bauman, one of the staff workers at CityTeam, took me to his evening Bible study group in the center city area.

The weather had been pretty crummy. At least, for people who normally lived in Philly during the winter time would think it crummy. I, on the other hand, was having a blast. It was cold - DANG cold! It had snowed during the day, but the precipitation had morphed into rained by the night's arrival.

I rode with Clinton to his apartment where we dropped off his car. We did a slight jog down the hill to the train station where we would take the 30 min. ride into the city. Stepping off the train onto the platform, down the escalator, and through the hallway, Clinton and I entered the main lobby of 30th Street Station. Before then, grand train stations like this had only been pictures and movie scenes to me. One thing I absolutely love about the East is the history found in the architecture. There was, no doubt, history in this building. The columns, the large lamp lights that hung from the roof 100 ft. above us, the benches that covered the hard floor. I wanted to pull out my camera.

But we were short on time, and Clinton wanted to get something to eat before his friend came to pick us up. We got a couple pretzels moments before Mac showed up. After a couple polite greetings, we were out of the station and across the street to his old pickup (with not extended cab, I might add).

We finally got to the apartment where Clinton and the group of eight young, Christian men gathered to study the Word. There I met guys with interesting backgrounds and careers. The most interesting was an FBI field agent - he wasn't even 28 years-old! I was amazed how old he looked. I would guessed he'd be in his early 30s at least.

So the Bible study lasted for a few hours discussing 1 John and the assurance of our salvation. At a few points, it led to pre-destination and free will and where the balance between the two was made. You can always find out how long a group has been together by how they react to the discussion, and you can tell that these guys had been together for a while...they forced the conversation to move on before the topic became more of a heated argument and less of a calm, quiet discussion.

After the lesson, the prayer requests were exchanged, the praises were shared, and the heads were bowed as we lifted to God Almighty our concerns and love for each other and fellow Christians. We did some casual talk, but the only one noteworthy was when Clinton asked the FBI guy if we could hold his firearm. He was very cool about it, and all of our eyes went big for a split second before we had to act non-chalant to pretend we were cool. He pulled out the clip. He emptied the chamber. He handed the glock to Clinton, and the rest of us waited in a impatient, five-year-old type manner.

Time rolled on. The later it got the more I realized that I wouldn't be able to see the rest of the city like Clinton and I had planned. Clinton had another thing on his mind...like if we could make it back to the train in fifteen minutes or not. Looks like we got a little carried away with the glock. Heh...

So Mac, Clinton, and I raced back to the pickup, which was parked a couple blocks away from the apartment. Through rain, snow, and ice, we jogged back. The dry air cut through my lungs, the cold temperatures broke through my jacket, and my ears rang out in a silent numbness; and it was all for catching a train on 30th Street in Philadelphia. It was the experience I was looking for from a visit into the city!

We got to the station with five minutes to spare only to find out that the train was eight minutes late. Clinton and I walked to the main lobby again so I could take a few quick shots. By the time we got back on the train and back into Chester, it was close to midnight.

I didn't get my Philly cheese steak sandwich from Abner's or Gino's (sorry David and Caryn), but I found my trip to be quite enjoyable. It's a shame I wasn't able to go back out during the rest of the week I was here. Tomorrow morning, I board a plane at 8:45 am back to California. It's been a good trip back East, but I'm ready to go home.

Time for pictures!

30th Street train station in Philadelphia. Too bad I wasn't spending days of free time here. I would have went out to Jersey and New York...THAT would have been grand!

Columns are cool.

I can't remember what this building is called. I really like this picture, though. So colorful. I think I'll come back to it and spend more time editing it to make it look really nice.

Here's a lame picture that I thought was cool and "artsy." Whatever. That's Curtis who just exited out of those revoloving doors.