United Church of God

Letter From Dan Preston - September 13, 2024

Letter From Dan Preston

September 13, 2024

Greetings brethren and Happy Sabbath! Just a quick reminder for those in Columbia, we will be having a potluck tomorrow, along with our Sermon Discussion.  In Charlotte, there will be a Teen Bible Study, with those in Columbia able to connect via Zoom.

Getting started

I had a reminder in my phone pop up last week that said, "Plant Fall Garden."  I had put in my phone back in the spring as I knew the fall would be here before I knew it, and if I didn't give myself a reminder, things might wind up like they did last year - waiting to long to get anything in the ground, and consequently, no fall garden.

I snoozed the reminder for a few days and then on Tuesday of this week, it popped up again.  With my wife having already weeded the garden for me, I had no excuses.  I decided it was now or never, so I got out my little cutlivater, pulled out the zucchini and a few of the tomato and pepper plants that were done for the year, and went to town.  

Plans gone right

As I started tilling, I was thankful that when I planted the spring crop, I had stuck to my guns and spaced all my plants two feet apart.  I have always had a tendency (as most gardeners do), to try and cram too much in, and consequently leave myself no room to work, and no room to plant between rows with the fall comes.  

My earlier diligence paid off, and there was plenty of room to till between the now fully mature tomato and pepper plants that remained, and plant the tiny seeds for kale, peas, carrots, lettuce and Swiss chard (with maybe some beets to be planted next week).  By the time these crops begin to get bigger and need more room, the remaining summer plants will be pulled up.

Follow through

For me, the temptation to keep snoozing the reminder to plant the Fall Garden was strong.  In fact, I did several times.  But eventually I did get to it, and now have another season of harvest to look forward to in a few months.

So what's the moral of the story?  Well, it's certainly not that I'm a great gardener or wonderful planner.  However, when we do plan ahead, we can make things easier on ourselves.  But even the best planning doesn't matter much if we don't follow through.

As we plan and prepare for the upcoming Holy Day season, let's make sure to follow through, not just with physical attendance (if possible), but with our hearts and minds fully focused on the coming Kingdom of God!