Much to Mackenzie's dismay, I 'forced' her to stop and let me take her picture before we left. You know, 'first day of school' and all that... ha. That would be why she has this look on her face: :)
It's ridiculous to think how fast 12 years of school and life have gone by...
When we arrived at Lipscomb (and can I just stop and say here that I'm SO glad that they are widening Hwy 53 to Ardmore because I think we'll be seeing that road a whole lot more in the next 4 years!) the move-in process was well under way. I have to say we were very fortunate that Mackenzie's roommate, Carolanne, and her family had gotten there before us and had already bought and installed carpet in the room - yay! We had two very handy dads in the room who quickly put beds together and moved things around... then it was just unpacking and finding places in a 14x16 space to put 2 girls and ALL THEIR STUFF. ;-) Jack decided in all this process of constructing and 'lofting beds' and getting the girls settled that we needed to go into business selling modular dorm furniture and storage solutions. I think he might be on to something! :)
And here's a shot of Mackenzie and Carolanne ready to start their new adventure together at Lipscomb. :)
Later in the afternoon, Courtney came over to campus to join us and see where Mackenzie was going to be living. Just a couple of years ago, she was an RA in charge of all these new freshmen girls! Speaking of RA's - here was one of the best moments of the day. Not long after we arrived, Mackenzie's RA came up to her room to check on our progress and see if we needed anything. There was a lot going on - bed's being taken apart, stuff everywhere, etc... but she managed to get all of our attention and asked if she could pray for all of us. So everything came to a halt for a few moments and she prayed a very sweet prayer for the move and year ahead and God's plans for our girls... it was very refreshing and reassuring and just what that moment needed to settle us all down and get the day under way. That moment, along with walking the halls of the dorm several times bringing in loads of stuff and passing posters with encouraging scriptures and reminders of God's love, not to mention helpful people and friendly smiles... well, I'm more convinced than ever that Mackenzie has found a great place to spend the next 4 years.
I had to include this picture because the dinosaurs are cute (apparently, each RA has a 'theme' and Mackenzie's has something to do with dinosaurs) and because for just a moment when I saw them, I was transported back in time to where I would expect to see something like this outside of a preschool classroom... :)
Well, the day had to come to an end sometime. We left the dorm around 5:30, took Courtney with us, and went and had dinner at Subway. We were on a bit of a time crunch because Anna had skipped school to come with us and we had to get her back in the car and back home to finish homework that was piling up. Saying good-bye was hard. I knew if I tried to say very much, I was going to start crying - and Mackenzie had already pointed at me after I hugged her and told me not to cry. ;-) What I will remember is the last kiss on the cheek, the last 'I love you' and that last look in the eyes... and now I'm going to start crying just writing that. :'(
It's hard to describe what driving away and leaving your child behind to start 'life on their own' feels like. For several days before we left, while we were packing and such, it mostly just felt like I was getting her ready to go on a big trip. That's not so hard - I mean, we sent her off to El Salvador for 9 days just a few weeks ago, right? But the feeling coming back home and realizing that she isn't going to be back in 9 days is just very sad. I miss her already and more than I already knew I would...
...but here is the text I got from her yesterday... "It's going really well, im loving it!" And that makes me happy. :)
So let the adventure begin!
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