Thursday evening. It's been a rainy week, off and on. So I've run errands when the weather is clear and spent a lot of time inside dealing with the process of leaving the city. It's much easier to move here than to move out, it seems.
I've met some interesting people by posting items for sale here in the apartment building and also on craigslist. It's been fun crossing paths and sharing bits of our stories. It's natural to ask where are you moving to, what do you do here, etc. It opens the door to share my trust in God and His plans for my future. Please pray for me not to miss any opportunity to share about Him.
I'm trying to touch base with many people before I leave. God has blessed me with many friends here in the city over the last 2 years. I've really been blessed. Lots of dates for coffee or a meal or exploring a common interest. It's hard to believe that I'll really be leaving.
Two people came by yesterday to buy some items. One guy bought some plastic storage drawers. We had to put them into 3 trashbags. He was going to be taking them on the subway (2 different trains) to Astoria Queens. One girl came by subway to buy my floor lamps. She ended up getting the 6' tall (skinny) pantry, a crockpot, and 3 sacks of misc stuff. She called a taxi to get it all home. It took us 30 minutes to fit it all into the taxi. These are just normal examples of the hassles of transporting stuff around the city. I'm not complaining about it. Just pointing out the differences of living in a city which depends more on public transportation than personal vehicles. I find it interesting.
A girl came by tonight to buy a small bookcase. She only lives about 10 blocks away, so just carried it down the street. That's a normal sight.
During the break in the weather today, I ran a box to the shipping place, stopped by the bank, picked up lunch at my new favorite Mediterranean/vegetarian neighborhood restaurant (I ate there for lunch yesterday, too), stopped by the street vendor for bananas, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. I will miss the street vendors with their fresh produce at low prices.
My senses seem to be on hyperdrive lately. I think it's because I'm trying to impress upon my memory all the sights, sounds and smells (well, most of the smells) of the city. People keep asking what, besides the people, I will miss the most when I leave. I've been thinking about it alot. There are many things that I will miss. But after thinking and talking with a friend about it, I think I will miss the most the Me that I am when living here. God has grown me so much personally, emotionally and spiritually over these last 2 years. There have been good times and difficult times. As long as I'm in His plan, I will accept 'all' times. My most fervent wish is that I am faithful to His call and bring honor to Him.
I had such a great time with Jenny at a coffeeshop this afternoon. We talked a lot about life and living in the city and God's plans and just stuff. She has lived here all her life and says that I make her look at the city through fresh eyes. She's a dedicated foodie and plans on going to cooking school soon. We share a love of exploring different cuisines. We will always have that in common and she inspires me to try new things and to learn to cook outside of my comfort zone. She is a cherished friend and we'll be sharing our love of cooking exploration for a long time. I'm very thankful to call her friend.
I succumbed to the temptation to have real coffee tonight. I try not to do caffeine, but I do love coffee. This coffee place was special and smelled so heavenly, I just had to have a real one! It was very nice and I enjoyed treating myself. And sipping coffee and chatting with Jenny was sweet! (even though it's midnight, I'm nowhere near ready for sleep! oh well)
I'm planning on getting a lot more work on the apartment done tomorrow. I have a lunch meeting and also someone is coming by to look at a few more items for sale. I'm trying to schedule more meetings with ministry people to finish up my work here. My days are busy, but not too crazy. These last weeks are sprinkled with different things to take care of, personal and work related. I have less than 2 weeks left. I know it will hit me harder when departure is closer. I'm very excited about my new assignment in NWA, so it's not going to be all sad... just very emotional - up and down. But, God created us with a wide arrangement of emotions and I'm going to celebrate them all.
I am so truly thankful for all the prayers and financial support and encouragement. I pray blessings on everyone of them. These days I'm experiencing a new level of joy.
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