Good-bye My Friends

We have to say good-bye next week to a family that we love dearly. David, Coleen, Reilly & Maddison are heading out for Texas on Sunday, August 3rd. Oh I know it’s not really good-bye it’s just see you later, but my heart sure feels like it’s good-bye.

One of my fondest memories of David was during Dreamer, you Mt. Freedom alum know what I’m talking about. David and Coleen invited everyone over to the parsonage after that evening’s fabulous event (only after being run off by the Salvation Army nazi, I mean sweet lady). We were all driving in a caravan when the lead car, one blue jeep, ran a stop sign, and of course the Wilmore police were out in full force that night. Poor David had to suffer the humiliation of his flock driving past, waving and laughing as they went. And yes, we were all standing in their front yard still laughing like crazy when they finally made it home.

Oh the memories we have of those days at Mt. Freedom. I look back to when we were “forced” to gather before Sunday school to sing praise music, only to now realize what a blessing God made that to be. I remember being really angry at the time but in retrospect that was seriously the sweetest worship I have ever experienced. I feel like we’re all saying good-bye to a time of innocence and growth, like we’re leaving our carefree days of childhood behind us to step into our adult lives. But if that’s the case, then we certainly were forced to grow up before our time. To many of you this may sound very strange but I find myself seriously thanking God for the people who caused so much pain, because the result of that pain is our unbelievable connection with each other. A connection that I think we will all take to our graves. I certainly pray that we do.

So to our very dear brother and sisters - the Hewitt’s, we know that God has great plans for your future and we can hardly wait to see where He takes you. Know that we will be praying for you every step of the way. I hope you can somehow comprehend what a difference you’ve made in our lives. Thank you so much for your service to our Lord and for the countless ways you’ve loved us. We are forever changed for having the opportunity to serve along side you and we certainly count it a privilege.

Godspeed!