A Farewell To Macon
/Now the countdown is really on, like it’s on to 1. In just one day we will hopefully have our stuff packed up and be ready to drive away from Macon. I really have been so focused on the day to day that I haven’t given a ton of thought to the things I love most about Macon. This week I started thinking of things I would miss, as I began thinking, the tears came at the most inappropriate times and I decided I would write my last farewell to the city that has given me and my family so much laughter, so much joy and so much love. So here are the top ten things that I will miss most about the wonderful city of Macon (in no particular order) …
10. Heard Elementary School and Wesley Preschool. These are the two places that my children have spent the most time over the past six years. Not only have they learned and grown academically but they have developed strong and meaningful friendships. The teachers who have helped to mold and shape my children have been amazing women who love the Lord and love my kids and we are so thankful to them.
9. I will miss the weather during the months of November, December, January, February, March and most of April. I have adjusted to the warm climate of Georgia and I must say I kind of like it. Now it is not uncommon to see me in my winter coat with 60-degree weather. However I know that like I adjusted here I will re adjust to cold and snow. I do have high hopes because of my love for hot chocolate dates with my husband and his love for sweaters.
8. Running. While living in Macon I have become a runner. Not a treadmill runner like I used to be but an outdoor long distance runner and I love it. Running is my outlet, it relaxes me and gives me times to think. One of the best things that running has offered me is my friendship with Avery. We run together whenever one of us isn’t pregnant. Avery is one of the strongest and most determined people I have ever met and I am so thankful that our love for running connected us and afforded us the chance to become life long friends.
7. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, don’t you? I never thought I did until I began working at Starbucks on Forsyth. Even though I quit working there over 2 years ago I am still greeted with hugs and yells of “Carrie” whenever I walk in. Not to mention the occasional free drink! I am going to miss my friends at Starbucks, but I am looking forward to finding the perfect coffee shop to help assist me in my addiction.
6. Fried Chicken. Yes, don’t judge me! I will miss Zaxby’s dearly as well as Chick-fil-a. Nobody does chicken like the south does Chicken. I will be reviving my love for pizza while in the Chicago area but I am not exactly sure what foods I will come to love in Lincoln. So the next time you are enjoying your spicy chicken sandwich think of me and remember just how lucky you are to have it in your grasp.
5. Room 121. This is what we affectionately called the classroom that I spent my days with the most amazing kids and teachers I could imagine. Never did I think I would be good working with special needs children, honestly I was a little intimidated at the thought. I was so wrong; this was the most loving group of kids I have ever met. I had more hugs, marriage proposals and compliments than I could have ever imagined. I also received my fair share of slaps; bites and I have been called names I never knew existed. All in all I learned so much from the teachers I worked with and spending everyday with these kids. I found out I have patience and a heart and vision for special needs ministry at Mercy City. God used this year to teach me and soften my heart to this whole new group of people who need to experience the love of Jesus through my hands.
4. Life Center. Obviously our friends who have become family, so many people who have touched our hearts and helped us realize what God is calling us to do. We were encouraged and challenged and trained over the past six years in ways we could never imagine. Thank you Life Center for the opportunity to pastor you, learn from you, love you and do life with you. Every life we touch from here on out is a testimony to the people at Life Center Church. I will never forget our encounter weekends, my inability to put the chairs back together or the years of services, picnics, and events that we shared together.
3. Lindsey. My cousin, my best friend, no one else understands my movie quotes, or laughs at my stupid jokes quite like you. Our whole lives we have lived only miles apart and I am so thankful for your friendship. I know that you would do just about anything to help me, whether that is finding me a mint, hair tie or anything I may have forgotten you always have my back. I hope that you know that no matter how far away we are I always have yours.
2. Baseball. Oh baseball how I love you. Now I know that there will be baseball in our future, but for the past five-year we have met more people and had more fun watching the kids play baseball than anything else. We have traveled and traveled and traveled and so much more with some of the greatest people we know. The kids have had amazing coaches who love them and encourage them to love the Lord and then to love baseball. We have leaned on these families when things were hard and they have supported us and encouraged in so many ways. I know that our time here was short in the grand scheme of things but these are some of the memories that we will remember and hold close to our hearts for years to come.
1. Miss Sisterhood. Three years ago while I was in London the Lord spoke to me to minister to the girls where we live and so Miss Sisterhood began. I think it was the best thing I have ever been a part of in ministry so far. I learned so much about leading and loving a team. I will miss our coffee meeting and our decorating meetings and are meetings just to hang out meetings. You girls who were apart of Miss Sisterhood in both planning and attending will always be in my heart. I am so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to learn along side of you.
I can see that the next season of our life is upon us and I am ready. I feel like the training wheels have been removed and God has released us into this with all the grace and encouragement possible. I can feel the support of our friends and family here in Macon. I can feel that we are lifted up in prayer; we are stronger because the people here have loved us. Am I sad to leave? Yes. I am very sad to leave, but I know that it is necessary so that we can reach a city with the love and mercy of Jesus. So here we go…..
