What I will miss when I go to NYC

Today is my last day in Auburn, Alabama...at least for a while. I am driving to New York City tomorrow (Wednesday, July 8th) with John Jenkins, Jeff Shell, and Mark Newstrom. They will drop me off and pick up my buddy Steve Diamond, who has been an intern at Times Square Church for six months. Steve is from Boaz, Alabama, originally.

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS to Steve and his NEW fiance, Sarahi Negron!!! Steve met his future wife while at Times Square Church, and Mrs. Yvonne Sledge has "prophesied" that I will too. Things are a bit different for me, however. I will clarify by merely saying that it may happen that I will "find" my future wife while at Times Square Church. Only time will tell.

On that note, there are some very significant things and people I will miss when I go to New York.

1) Most of all, I will miss the company of my friends and family. I thought it would be appropriate to list this one first. After all, relationships are the most important investment we can make while on this earth. Why can I say that with such conviction and absolutism? It is because people are the only things on this earth we can take into eternity with us. And that goes both ways. I am convinced that our relationships, with God and with people, are the most important thing in the world. And this has everything to do with the fact that our God IS love. A life lived astray from this point of fact about relationships is a life wasted, because the fact is God made us to love and to be loved. In fact, the one thing EVERY human being has in common is the desire/need to be loved, appreciated, or acknowledged.

2) I will miss my garden. This year is the first year since I moved away from home that I have had a garden of my own of any significance. John-Paul and I planted and grew from seed over 100 tomato plants of differing varieties! We have given several away because of a lack of space in the back yard. This crop will be the most tomato plants I have had to deal with since I was a kid in Albertville, when, on one occasion, my mom and dad planted over one hundred plants in their garden. Here are some pictures of my plants:

The first of our ripe tomatoes. This is an Early Girl.

This one is called a "Mr. Stripey," because it is a red tomato with pink stripes.

This is the 420-square-foot garden plot in the back yard of Todd's, John-Paul's, and my house.

I will miss this most of all because of the sense of accomplishment and spiritual lessons which the garden has taught us. I will inevitably write more about these spiritual lessons in the future. A garden is hard work, especially one this size. It is literally bittersweet that I will not enjoy the simple pleasure of my ripe harvest. But God has promised to make me fruitful.

3) The third thing I will miss about Alabama is the quiet and simple country life. But the positive to living in New York now will be that I will have experienced the joys and sorrows of both big city life and calm country life. I think I will like aspects of both.

Well, let me close before I get too long. I'll update you again as soon as I get settled in the Big Apple.

P.S. Did you know tomatoes were once called "Love Apples"? It's true!