“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:13)
I consider it a real joy and privilege to write this column. In fact, many of you have told me that it’s one of the first things you look for in the newspaper on Saturday morning. Do me a favor. When you finish my column this morning, stop and say a prayer for my family and me.
When I moved to Griffin in 1992, I thought it was one of the most god-forsaken places I had ever seen. But I was pretty angry with God for the direction my life had taken. I had been saved only six months, after which I weathered a bitter divorce and lost my job. When I did find a job, it was five hours away from two children who seemed so confused about what had just happened to them. Why would God do such a thing to a babe in Christ?
The first night I drove in to town, I checked in at the Holiday Inn, called my then-girlfriend and now wife, and cried my eyes out. I was so afraid and so lonely.
One of the fun things I got to do, as Spalding County Manager, was help to convince companies, which were considering Griffin for a location for a new manufacturing facility, to locate here. I’ll never forget when I heard one of the many volunteers, who often helped out when prospective clients were in town, tell an employee of one of those companies that some people may cry when they move to Griffin, but all of them cry when they leave.
I never realized how right he was until last Saturday morning. It occurred to me just as you were settling in to your new day in Griffin that my family and I had already spent our last day here. And as we left you that morning, headed to our new home in North Carolina, we were filled with sadness, literally crying as we were driving out of a community we’d grown to love.
The past few weeks have been special for me. I’ve stopped and thought a lot about why I love Griffin so much. So many of us, me included, sit around and complain about high taxes, crime, traffic, you name it. But last Saturday those things just didn’t seem to matter. I guess one of my favorite college professors was right all along: Where you stand really does depend on where you sit.
God has a plan for our lives and His plan for my life began to unfold in Griffin. As a new Christian, I couldn’t understand why He would “exile” me five hours away from people who really needed me around. But the plain truth is His plan wasn’t meant to distance me from my family. His plan was meant to distance me from a lifestyle that nearly destroyed me.
And so I arrived here confused and afraid of what my new life might bring my way. But what I found was a community where faith matters. Where a public official can stand up for his beliefs, even write a column about them. A town that is full of Christians, all of them more than willing to wrap their arms around a new believer and allow him to grow in Christ. God sure knew what He was doing, didn’t He?
You also wrapped your arms around my family and we became a part of this town. It was home to us, the only home we’ve really ever known. You see I married Robbie after I moved to Griffin. As a couple, we’d never lived anywhere else, until last Saturday.
If nothing else, be grateful for where you live. All communities have the very same problems you see in Griffin. I’ve been living in Durham for almost six months. Money Magazine rates it as one of the best communities in which to live and yet I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard citizens complain about high taxes, crime and traffic. I just hope my family and I find in Durham all of the “other things” we left in Griffin.
So pray for us this morning as we continue to adjust to our new home, shaking our heads when we stop and realize that we can no longer refer to Griffin as home.
We miss you.
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