We officially had our first day at Pleasant Ridge on Sunday, and it seemed to be a great success. Lance got such wonderful feedback (as did I) about the entire day, and I am so thankful for that. It seems like we’ve been saying “goodbye” forever; it was prime time to get to the “hello” part.
It was a long day – we left our house at 7:10am and returned home at 9:30pm. We went to first service, Bible class, second service, lunch… then Lance played basketball with some kids from the church from 2 to 4, and then there we had a youth thing at 5:00, church at 6:00, and a reception for us at 7:00. The reception was wedding-style: Lance and I stood, and everyone lined up to shake our hands. I would venture to guess that we met probably 200+ people yesterday. I think I remember 3 names. That’s 1.5%. Oops. Anyway, it was just a very long day. I told Lance that by the end of the day, I wasn’t sure whether I was smiling or just baring my teeth at people.
It definitely made me want to move closer though. We packed multiple changes of clothes as appropriate for each of the day’s activities since we knew we couldn’t make it all the way back to NRH between things. Literally – it was like we packed for a weekend trip. We had changes of clothes and the dog and all of his stuff (he played at Patty’s house) and Lance had all of his toiletries so he could shower… it was a LOT of trouble. I mean, obviously, we will make it work until we can move down there, but it was a strong affirmation that, yes, we do need to move.
I just feel like I’ve got so many different emotions jumbling around inside of me. I’m so happy and thankful that Sunday went so well. (I think we would have been terrified and distraught if Sunday had gone poorly, wondering what on earth the Lord had called us to.) I’m still exhausted from spending a whole day on my feet, shaking hands, smiling, introducing myself, etc. I kind of felt like I was campaigning for something. I should have kissed some babies or something. Anyway, I’m still sad to be leaving some really precious friends (and not LEAVING leaving – I know we’ll still see each other… just not as often as I’d like). I got a phone call and a text from some of our Legacy friends on Sunday, and at the same that it was such a blessing, it got me all choked up. I’m scared that we won’t make new friends, and I’m nervous about having to fit into a new group. I’m confused about a lot of things because our churches operate very differently, so I can’t figure out some things. I’m incredibly excited that our vacation is getting close (although I am not saying how close because I don’t want to announce when we’ll be leaving an empty house behind…). Honestly, knowing that I’m going to have a break and be able to spend so much time with Lance without all the stress of packing, house-hunting, starting a new church, starting a new job, working in our house, etc. is what’s keeping me going at this point. I can’t wait. He’s my bestie.
I am incredibly blessed. Thank you, Lord!
I'm glad it went well, but I know how you feel. I was so excited to be at our new church, but I still miss PR often. I'm JUST now coming to grips with the fact that I don't actually go there anymore (and we moved far!). I hope you sell your house so you can move closer to church. With Lance being up at church so much, it would be nice to be able to run back and forth from house to church. I'm praying for y'all and for the church. I hope you feel peace soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for always being so honest on your blog!