Moving Day!

On Monday morning, June 8, we packed up and said good-bye to our Jacksonville chapter.

I woke up early around 5 am and got to work packing up last minute things. Israel was up soon after and he broke our hearts as he asked for things that were packed up or we no longer owned (Elmo in the back room, his drum set). Every time I walked down the stairs he thought I was bringing Edith down but she was already at her grandparent's home. He would say, "Baby?!" and would be so sad when I was empty-handed! 

Our friend Shelli Boyles dropped by to give us one last hug. Israel was asking her about his chair (drums) and Melmo (Elmo) and his lip puckered out and he had tears in his eyes. It really broke my heart! 

Around 7:40 I dropped Will off at the Jacksonville U-Haul pickup place, and then I took Israel to UCP for his last day of school. (Read about that here). I went to McDonalds to pick up a bunch of biscuits for our movers (but the wait was going to be 10 minutes so I ended up leaving empty handed after waiting for about 5 minutes!). Will called and said that our UHaul was NOT in Jacksonville and I needed to come take him to Anniston to find it. Our house was locked, though, and our friends were set to arrive at 8:30. So I drove by to unlock it and thankfully Tyler L. was in the driveway! I sent him to go pick up Will and find our truck. Will had to call around several places and finally found a 20 foot truck (we had ordered a 17 foot truck) in Oxford. It was a little glitch in our morning, but it ended up working out in our favor because we used every inch of that truck!!

Back at the house, we had a team of 14 strong men ready to help us! They moved everything downstairs while we waited for Will, and he got there around 9ish. The truck was completely loaded in about an hour and a half! Huge thanks to Alex, Zack and Derek for being master packers and utilizing every nook and cranny. Their detailed skills allowed us to take everything we needed. There was a moment when I was sitting on the porch watching the last bit of stuff sitting on our lawn still needing to go in, and I thought that we were going to have to leave something. 

After we finished loading, we shared biscuits (Tyler had picked them up on his way back from finding the truck with Will) and then Brittany and Chloe helped me clean the house! It was such a gift of service to me to not be alone and to have many hands to quickly clean it. 

After locking up and saying good-bye to my landlord via the phone, Brittany and I had a long lunch together. Brittany is one of my very best friends and I am so thankful for her! Then I headed to Java Jolt and saw a few of our EngageJSU friends, then took a coffee to my other Pastor's Wife BFF Beth. We had a great chat and she prayed over me before I left to go pick up Israel from school. 

After picking up Israel, we headed to Will's parents house in Scottsboro. Israel did great on the 2 hour drive and Edith was happily playing when we got there. She had been thoroughly spoiled and doted on there, and even got some new toys at Wal-Mart. We had a fun evening playing together, giving them a bath and watching Bachelorette! Israel slept with GaGa and Pop which allowed me to sleep through the night! 

Moving day was a success and I'm so thankful to the many, many people who sent us off on a positive note. We have grown so much in Jacksonville and it will always be dear to our hearts. At this point, though, we are ready to look forward and focus on God's plan for us in Brooklyn. We are so excited for this new season and we know that God will continue His faithfulness with our new church and new friends.