*disclaimer: this is a post i wrote back in June 2014 but never posted--i loved reading it tonight and thought i would share it with y'all!
On a Tuesday in June I did something that I wasn't prepared to do... I told Waco bye. After deferring grad school and deciding to stay in Tyler I came to the realization that on May 17th I left Waco with every intention of going back to live there in the Fall. Now, I knew that wasn't going to happen and I began to realize that I may not ever live in Waco again. So (obviously) I needed to drive back down to give such a special place the proper goodbye that it deserved.
Hence, on Tuesday I had to tell Waco bye. I drove around to all of my favorite places with my journal in one hand and a pen in the other and did the only thing I could think to do. I wrote. I thought about all of the things that I learned and experienced at that specific place and I wrote. My hand wasn't able to keep up with my mind but it sure did try and I am trusting that God knew just what needed to be written down so that I can always look back and remember. Here's a little glimpse into what that day looked like...
FIRST STOP: 3344 S. 3RD STREET. #14
" i'm sitting on the back door steps of my waco house that isn't my house anymore. it seems cruel that i can't call this place home any longer. 3 years here. 5 different roommates. a million lessons learned and re-learned. meals cooked but mostly just pizza ordered(thanks papa john... what a guy). so many books read and music played. it was inside on the stairs where i got my most un-wanted phone call of college and it was also here at the kitchen table that jon asked me on our first date. 3 falls, springs, winters and 1 summer. 6 weeks sharing a room with emma and thousands of clothes shared amongst everyone. 3 formals, salados, crushes, and take-a-dates. i cried plenty and laughed more. i learned more about Gods character sitting on the floor of my room or on the balcony in my hammock than any other place in waco. i succeeded and failed with confrontation, community, living life on life right here within these walls. my desire for discipleship and vulnerability was strengthened by this place and the people that filled it. thanks, aspen #14.#aspenhottiez "
SECOND STOP: HARRIS CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH
" now im sitting outside of harris creek... the church i called home for 4 years. i came here on my first sunday in waco, back in august 2010, and i never left. here i was a part of 3 different lifegroups and got to lead two of them. i learned more about leading, following, and discipleship here than i ever knew before. i found new relationships here and strengthened old ones. within these walls i was challenged to know Jesus better and deeper and to know myself in a new and better way. i questioned God and His goodness in this building a lot during the fall of 2011 and then was over-whelmed by His goodness in this building so many times after that. through the teachers here i gained a deeper thirst for scripture and a deep appreciation for the psalms. i worshiped here and learned that worship isn't just a sunday morning thing-- but a lifestyle. i spent gallons of gas driving out here every week...like a lot of gas. i learned more about grace, redemption, community, and Jesus. and maybe most importantly, it was here that i first learned of the covenant type friendship (shouts out Lyd) and i've been pursuing just that ever since. I'd say it was worth the gas. "
THIRD STOP: STACY RIDDLE-- #PANNY4EVER
"now im sitting outside of the panhellenic building. i remember opening up my bid card like it was yesterday and reading "chi omega" as i screamed and squealed like all good sorority girls do. i rushed over to the chi-o room to meet all my new "sisters" and even though i was happy and full of anticipation i was also beyond scared. i remember looking around and feeling like i was in middle school again--all these girls are prettier than me, cooler than me, and the list goes on. that's all my 19 year old self could think about those first 6 weeks of being a chi-omega. if i had only known then what i know now. the girls that filled that room every monday night at 5:30 sharp changed me for the better. they taught me how to not take myself so seriously, laugh until we cry (lizard land), be vulnerable and real, to love Jesus fully and deeply and so much more. chi omega really was one of Baylor's best gifts to me."
FOURTH STOP: LAKE WACO
"now im sitting at me and jon's favorite spot on lake waco. i love this spot so much because of what it has meant to not just jon and i but also to whitney (jons sister). whit told jon about this abandoned lot on lake waco when he was a freshman at baylor in 2009... she said it was a spot where she went to spend time with Jesus and that he should go too. jon started going to the spot sometimes on his own and decided he would never take anyone there unless he knew that person was important. i'll never forget jon telling me that story last fall when he brought me here for the first time. we had just started dating and i was anxious and reserved. i was guarding my heart a little too much out of fear and i will never forget sitting right here and listening to jon tell me that whatever i was feeling was ok--that he wasn't going to be scared off by my anxiety and that he cared about me. that was the moment when my walls started coming down and i thought "i think i actually might like jon lasse". since that day we've come here many times and each time i feel such a peace--just thankful that God would give us our own little spot on the lake."
(little did i know then that jon would propose to me in that same spot just 2 months later!!!!)
LAST STOP: 313 CRESCENT
"i'm back at rach and jordans and yet i know that i need to write about this house too because it holds such a special place in my heart. this is the house where i got to nanny norah rose for the first year of her life... where i got to come over at 1am and spend the night with norah so r+j could rush to the hospital to have ruby girl. the house where i knew no matter what was going on in my life that THIS was my safe place--my place where i was completely known and completely loved. rach has always been a safe place for me and i sit here crying just thinking about how good God was to me in letting us live life so closely together again in Waco. this was the house i came to right after jon asked me out and i was a complete mess. how many times have i cried in this place? who knows but a lot... just ask jordan. this is the house that holds the cutest kids in the world and some of my hardest and best moments in all of college. not many people get to have a 313 crescent and i'm so thankful that i did. the barkers are at the top of the list for the things i'll miss most about Waco."
- from my journal in June 2014.
i'm not sure why i never posted this post but when i came across it today i knew that i wanted to share it! it was such a good reminder to me of all that Waco, Tx and the people that fill it taught me during college. i am thankful for that season of my life. I'm looking forward to being able to write more Ebeneezers in the future about my current and future seasons in life. Because sometimes it's just good to remember.
REMEMBER...Lest I forget all He has done.
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