On March 16, 2014, I wrote in my prayer journal that Andy
was called to interview for a job at the Winston Salem office in BB&T. He was not job hunting, and I was six weeks
away from giving birth to Daniel. We had
bought a house in Charlotte only a year prior.
And I wrote, “I think I heard the Lord say, ‘I go to prepare a place for
you.’ I dread the idea of starting over, but if God is going before us, I feel
like it has to be better than I can imagine.”
Living in this place has, in every way, been better than I could have
ever imagined. Tonight, I had a “goodbye”
dinner with my Bible Study girls, and will have a similar dinner with my supper
club this weekend. We leave in two weeks,
and my heart is absolutely breaking, but I also know God had us 5 years ago,
and he still has us today. What I did
want to do with this blog post is send out a thank you to all the people who
have been so special to us in this place.
It hurts too much to write individual notes, so I’m hoping this will
suffice.
To our Village Club Neighbors: We could not have
dreamed of a better place to raise our kids for the first few years of their
lives. Your streets have seen them learn
to crawl, walk, ride bikes. You’ve been a safe place to trick-or-treat or run
wild in the cul-de-sac. You guys have
leant me cups of flour, eggs, oatmeal, diapers.
You have let me cry in the street while I struggled through sleep deprivation
with a constantly fussy newborn. You’ve
watched my kids for emergency situations, and you’ve helped out with yard work
and snake killing. You’ve chatting with my
babies over fences and through window screens and in driveways. You’ve taken
time to hear about their day and sometimes be the only adult I’ve spoken to
besides my husband. Thank you for your
kindness, hospitality, and dependability.
To our Supper Club: You guys quickly went from being
neighbors to being “our people.” You’ve
celebrated first birthdays and new babies and potty training victories with
us. Meredith came when I was in active
labor with Abigail to watch Daniel. Erin
came for my ugly crying to pray with me after I heard about the bank
merger. Natalie gave encouragement as I
lost my mind with newborn Abigail.
Shannon rearranged her schedule to come watch my big kids when my water
broke with Joshua (and then rearranged it again when I told her my mom was
going to make it in time). You guys have
been the family I needed here. You were
the community God promised me when he told me he was preparing a place.
To River Oaks Community Church: It took us a year to
find a church in Clemmons, and I’ll never forget sitting at ROCC one Sunday by
myself when Andy was out of town. We had visited the church a few times, but I
still wasn’t 100% sure about being Presbyterian. I don’t remember anything about the message
that day, but I do remember being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit in that
service and hearing the Lord say, “This is the place. This is where you will find the community I promised
you.” God provided more than I could
have ever asked or imagined through you guys.
Thank you to Beth Beaty who
graciously welcomed me as a helper in her 4 year old Sunday School class and
mentored and encouraged me that year – helping Andy and me gradually get more
plugged in. To every pastor on staff who
poured in to Andy and me - recognizing our gifts and our passions and being
very willing to help us plug in and serve in ways that we truly cared about, we
are eternally grateful. I will never
forget meeting David Holcomb and telling him our vision for a small group we
wanted to start and how, without hesitating, he immediately said, “Yes, that
can absolutely be done.” In so many ways,
the message you all have communicated to our family is that anything is
possible at ROCC. In every way, you have
made this church not feel like simply a church but a home to us, and you are
the hardest place for us to leave behind.
Small Groups: On the heels of that, I am so thankful
to Andy’s discipleship group. Thank you
to all the men who have poured into him.
For the encouragement and prayer you’ve offered my husband. For sharpening him like iron to become a
better man, husband, and father with a deeper walk with the Lord – thank you. Thank you for your prayers and your
wisdom. Thank you for inviting him to do
softball (Mike McGarry!) and giving him meaningful friendships here. Thank you to my group – many of whom are
married to these men. Girls, you have no
idea the blessing you have been for me.
You have no idea how many prayers I prayed for you before we even moved
to Winston Salem. Every single one of
you have such a special place in my heart.
Every single one of you was someone the Lord made clear to me that I
should pursue for the group we have. It
is no accident that our dynamic is special.
I know the Lord formed this group, and while I’m so incredibly sad to
leave you, I’m so excited about the ways I know God is growing each of you. I can’t wait to hear about Taryn and Kelly’s
experiences with leading the women’s group and about Celeste and Garrett taking
on the couple’s group. It’s so exciting
to me to see how the Lord is mapping a path forward from this sweet season we’ve
spent together.
Jerry Long YMCA: Thank you for helping raise my
children. You guys have been my
village. I’m going to miss greatly watching
my children race across the sidewalk, fight to push the handicap buttons, and
barely miss tripping the little old ladies on their way to the childcare
room. I’m going to miss watching them
yell hello to Patty or stop to show Jane their boo-boo’s before barreling into Lynne
or Linda or Cindy or Mark or Kevin for a high five or a quick cuddle. To Ammanda, there are no words for how special
you have been to our family. We are
beyond thankful for the preschool and the teachers. For Haley and Magen and Mario and Lisa. For both Katies! Thank you for being a safe place for our
kids. For teaching them their letters
and numbers and colors. Thank you for
teaching them kindness – the fact that you all got Daniel to stop hitting
everyone gives me hope for Joshua! Thank
you for your endless patience and your ever present sense of humor. Thank you for babysitting (Haley and Katie!!). Thank you for the couple of kid-free hours
you gave me every day that allowed me to be best mom I could be. I am so thankful and grateful for every
minute we have spent with you.
To every person in between that I couldn’t mention by name –
do not think you are forgotten. From
church members to fellow preschool parents to every neighbor – we have been richly
blessed by your presence in our lives.
God provided everything he promised, and even though this change is
definitely the hardest I’ve ever experienced, I wouldn’t trade the experience
of being here for anything. And, as
Taryn reminded me a month or so ago, moving does not mean the friendships are
over. My prayer for this next season is
that some (hopefully many!) of these special relationships will only grow
deeper. We are praying for family vacations
(or maybe couples vacations!!!). We are
praying for days of meeting half way and days of “why don’t we hop in the car
and come for the night”. We are praying
that though a few more miles might separate us, our kids will continue to grow
up with one another, and we will still be one of the first phone calls for a
big prayer request or a big celebration (and all the small ones too!).
Clemmons, you have been so, so good to us. I certainly hope the Lord will see fit to
bring us back one day, but reading the 2014 prayer journal has also been a good
reminder that even though leaving can be sad, the plans God has are always
worth the going.
