I’ve never dealt very well with change. I like the ease of having a routine, seeing familiar faces and being in comfortable surroundings; however, over the past few years, it seems as if our lives have been full of change! We moved from Michigan to Kansas in 2006, from Kansas to Georgia in 2007, and for the third summer in a row, we are moving again–this time, to Denver, Colorado.
Don’t get me wrong. It is exciting to travel to a new “home”, redecorate a new apartment, get to know new people, pick up a new accent, and learn a whole new city. It’s just hard for me to say goodbye. But, here I sit, the clock ticking as our life in Atlanta comes to a close, and our futures in Denver come speeding into view. I feel like I’m in Purgatory.
I do feel sad. It’s hard to sit on the floor in the middle of our empty living room with nothing left in the apartment to take my mind off things. Coleman asked me why I keep wishing the movers would have left our tv behind. I told him I need a distraction.
In the midst of the emptiness, though, I am able to reflect upon all the ways that God has blessed us this year in Atlanta. Within days of living in the city, we stumbled upon Christian Church Buckhead. Little did we know it would become the place we would feel the most at home in this big town.
The first friends we made were Ian and Jen Reves. They introduced themselves to us in the lobby after church the second week we were here, and within minutes, they invited us to lunch and offered us one of their tvs so we would have something to do until the movers came with our belongings.
After sitting by us a couple of Sundays in a row, Jeff and Jen Plunk invited us to their house for dinner. They didn’t know us at all, but they could see our need for community, and so they opened up their home to us. They even let us play their Wii!
Derek was one of the first people to introduce himself to us as we stepped into the church lobby our first Sunday. We talked about music and his cool glasses. We wouldn’t have known he was CCB’s pastor if we hadn’t seen his picture on the church’s Web site the night before. It has given me much joy to see the reactions of people who come to CCB for the first time and realize that the guy they made chit chat with in the lobby before the service was actually the preacher!
Yes, God certainly blessed us from the first day we arrived in Atlanta, and although it is painful to leave these blessings behind, I know there are good things awaiting us in Denver. So, tomorrow morning, as we leave Atlanta behind, I will shed a few tears, but I will also take comfort in the fact that God has not failed us yet. I know he has already arranged a new community for us in the Wild Wild West.
Jillian Wyatt 