Thursday evening was a big evening for us. It was our good-bye celebration at our former church. The pastor preached about being in the Will of God and following His commands for our lives. Then the church prayed over all four of us before giving us presents and cake and saying emotional good byes.
I really didn't want them to do anything or make a big deal. I hate being the one attention is bestowed upon. I swear some of the most awkward moments of my life were my wedding showers years ago and my baby shower when I was pregnant with Audrey. However, I absolutely LOVE doing things for other people to let them know I love them. But I feel so unworthy of any kind of reciprocal gestures. I'm weird.
It was a great time though, however awkward for me. The church gave us an inscribed clock thanking us for our work and dedication. One of the families gave me a picture frame since I'm a photographer. Oddly enough, outside of the studio, I don't have many pictures hanging up in my home. I guess this will help change that. I'll be putting these in our entertainment center, which has been reorganized to keep someone from stealing the DVDs out of the player. When she goes to sleep, I'll take pictures of the new set up.
One of the ladies there was a seamstress and she made Audrey a pillow that is just too cute for words. Audrey was tired by this time, so she just walked around holding her pillow. Whenever someone would pick her up to take a picture, she'd start crying - not real crying, but the over-dramatic trying to get attention crying. I'm the biggest opponent for crying it out or letting a kid cry in general. But, I also know my kid. And she's a little drama queen like her mommy. So, I can say with certainty that these tears were not caused by any inflicted pain or distress other than being a little sleepy. She wasn't that sleepy though, coz she sang the whole way home. THAT'S how I know she wasn't hurting or sad or anything.
The cake was good. They even let me be the person to cut it since I have a weird phobia of eating food other people have touched.
My little Kayla opening our cake. I'm gonna miss her so much!
Our yummy cake. It was VERY sugary, but still pretty good. One of the church members said he was going to pray over the cake to make the first piece fat free and the second piece only 1 calorie. I'm not sure how that worked out for him. lol
Our former pastor, Little Miss Sleepy and my dear husband.
Little Miss. And not 30 seconds after she made this face, she was giving everyone hugs. It's still a heart breaking face though!
Giving Elisabeth hugs. God did so much in this girl's life during our tenure there. It was amazing to see her go from sneaking out of church to be with her boyfriend to being on fire for God and singing in worship. I love that girl.
Audrey with one of the pastor's sons. When we started, he wasn't even a teenager. He's getting his driver's license soon. He is NOT allowed to be that old. And I am NOT allowed to be even older. I can't tell you how many times this boy has stayed at our house and had me cook NON STOP for him - he can pack it away! I swear I made home made crackers for him 10 times in one day! But I'm going to miss that, too!
My husband giving his last input on a song. We spent so many late nights there singing and playing. I'm sure it'll be weird not having him there. But, he'll be up on the platform helping with worship at our new church soon enough. Our new pastor is giving us a little bit of a break before throwing us to the lions. ;)
A very sleepy girl, our former pastor, and his youngest son Paulie. Paulie and Audrey were always partners in crime since they were just 7 months apart. Paul was the first baby my husband held EVER! He didn't even hold his best friend's babies. We'll still see them for birthday parties though.
Saturday I had two photo shoots, one quite successful, the other not so much. The kids just weren't feeling it and the little girl was tired of her big brother beating on her who was tired of his little sister getting all of the attention for being upset and crying. It was a vicious cycle that ended up with stuff being thrown about the studio, and I just felt so bad for the poor kiddos and their mommy. I completely understand how hard photo shoots can be on kids and try my best to make it as good of an experience as possible. I've even done their photos before. But it just wasn't a good day for either of them. We did get some pictures for Christmas cards, so the mom is happy!
Sunday was my first day actually honoring the Sabbath. Don't get me wrong, I've been a church goer/helper/worker/singer/teacher/counselor/whatever since I've been a Christian. But, whenever we got home from church, I'd hole up in my office and work, work, work until 1 am. Not much resting going on there. After having a discussion with another bloggy mommy - I'd link to her blog, but she has it private - about the importance of honoring the Sabbath both in deed and in thoughts and intent, as well as with my husband we decided that I would take a break on Sundays. I must admit, I kind of felt guilty for not being in my office working, but it was such a relaxing day!
It was our first Sunday at our new church which is literally 30 seconds away from our house as opposed to over an hour, so we didn't have to get up at 5:00am. We were awoken by our sweet daughter playing with all of her babies and bringing them to us in bed. We then had breakfast all together, got ready and went to church. When Sunday School (which we didn't teach for the first time in ages - that's changing VERY soon though, but the break was nice) and service was over, we picked up some lunch and ate at home. Then we all changed into sweats and took a nap. Oh my goodness - that was AMAZING!
When we got up, my husband played on the guitar as my daughter dressed us all up in hats and ribbons and whatever else she could find in her dress up box that would fit us. She has this new thing where she likes to wear a blanket as a cape. It's only her hippo blanket, and it has to be wrapped a certain way. And then she walks around announcing "Princess Audrey! Princess Cape!" it's adorable.
Here is Princess Audrey in her princess cape and the mess she made in our living room. And, no, that's not toilet paper or a bug on the left part of the rug. It's a cloth wipe from her diaper station and a raisin from her bowl (I felt the need to clarify that) that she knocked out when she was prancing around.
I'm with you on the awkward baby/wedding shower moments. I begged for people not to throw me one because I feel so strange having all of that attention on my while I'm opening presents. I think it's one of the most awkward positions to be in.
ReplyDeleteBut it sounds like your going away celebration was really nice.
You should definitely have more pictures of Princess Audrey all over the house. That girl is too precious not to showcase everywhere :)
I'm glad you got your Sabbath rest. It sounds like a wonderful family day. I hope that you can maintain that sense of rest once your teaching break is over.
That's too funny about the last picture - I wouldn't have noticed until you pointed it out. Suuuuuuure it's a raisin. ;)
I'll have to work on getting more pictures of her up!
ReplyDeleteAnd I swear Audrey is such a pack rat. She takes food out of her snack bowls and hides it. I'll ask her at the end of the night to find something, and it turns out she shoved it under the couch along with some crackers, a piece of orange and some raisins. She'll come out with a mouth full of food!