Elvis Has Left the Building!

Daniel, his new roommates, and some friends who came to welcome him to Lexington! (The girls live elsewhere :) )

My two readers have probably noticed that I have not updated in a LONG time! We have been a little busy getting my eldest moved up to Lexington, KY. It was quite an ordeal, but I am happy to say that it was a positive experience overall! Daniel is sooooo happy, and that makes it all worthwhile!

Our trip started last Friday. It was a gorgeous day, unlike the previous weekend, which was totally soggy. We had no troubles getting the truck loaded with all of Daniel's earthly goods, and we proceeded on to my parents' town to pick up a single bed and a table and chairs that the relatives were donating to this housefull of boys in Kentucky.

On Sat. morning, we got up and prepared to leave for KY. Then, we realized that the key to the big Penske truck was missing! Everyone in the family looked for two hours. We finally figured that it must have fallen out of Tim's pocket at the Kroger parking lot the night before, and it was just lost! So, Tim had to ride 30 miles up the road to a locksmith friend-of-my-dad's to get another key cut for the truck. That done, we got on the road for KY at about 3 p.m., much later than we wanted to be starting.

We did not have much choice but to go on, as we wanted to make worship services in Lexington on Sunday morning. We arrived at the house where Daniel would be living, and we hoped to offload his car at least, so we could lose the trailer we were pulling behind the 26 foot truck. After Tim had already turned the truck into the cul-de-sac Daniel lives on, we realized that with all the cars parked on the street down there, there was no place to go with the truck. For the next hour, we all stood out in the street in the freezing cold trying to back a huge truck and trailer back out onto a busy street without getting anyone killed!

We finally checked into a hotel about 2 in the morning local time. We had managed to offload the car and return the trailer part to a seedy area of town without becoming statistics. We got about 4 hours of sleep before it was time to roll out for church.

It is mornings like this that the old devil really tempts you to stay in bed. I am glad I overcame temptation. The services of the church were just wonderful. The preacher made me cry. Of course, knowing that I was going to have to leave my son in a few hours did not help my emotions any. The sermon was centered around the idea that we live in earthly "tents" --our bodies which are fragile and temporary. Everyone at this church was grieving the loss of a young man they had been working with in hopes he would become a Christian. Instead, he had died of an apparent accidental drug overdose the previous Thursday. The preacher did a wonderful job of interweaving the lesson with the facts of this boy's life and death. He told about how the boy, Justin, had been asked by one of the elders if he ever felt his heart being tugged during the invitation. He said that yes, he had felt that tugging, but he was too scared to step out and walk down the aisle in front of all those people to confess Jesus. The elder had told the preacher that they were going to have to help Justin a little, if they had to walk with him down the aisle. They never got the chance. Justin died before he ever came back to services. So the preacher said he was going to do things a little different that morning and walk up and down the aisles in case there was anyone else there who needed a little help getting down the aisle!

As the invitation song was sung, the tears were just rolling down my face, as I thought of that poor mother who was losing her son forever. I was just dropping mine off temporarily, hopefully to see him again, many, many times. She would never talk to her son again; mine is at the other end of a cellphone. I figured the preacher would think that I was some nut or some potential penitent, standing there blubbering like a baby. But I could not help it, as the sermon and now his gesture towards the lost was just so sweet! Some preachers are "hot dogs" or "showboats," pulling stunts like this for the theatrical effect of it all. It was surely not like that with this man. He was so genuine---so truly devastated that Justin was not ever going to walk that aisle.

At any rate, after services were over, Tim and I introduced ourselves to the preacher and the elders there and told them that we were leaving Daniel in their care. It looks like Daniel is going to be so happy there. There are so many young people his own age for the first time in a lot of years! He said there were about 30 in his college class, which stands to reason since U of K is there. His three roommates are all Christians! They already seem to have that fraternal bond that is so wonderful!

Daniel wasted no time in his new digs. By the time we got there Monday, he pretty well had his room set up! He was lacking curtains and a computer desk, so we went out to shop for a little while before we had to get back on the road. Hannah was the only kid with us, and it was hard for her to leave her big brother. Sarah has had a rough time of it as well. I know we will all adjust in time to Dan not living here, but it will take a while.

On Tuesday night, I called Daniel to see how things were going. He was in the car with some of his roommates, going across town to a gospel meeting! Now that's what a mother likes to hear that her 19 year old son is doing on his first night away from her!

Wednesday night, we showed up at church for the first time without Daniel in tow. We were met in the parking lot by Jared, a young man that Daniel had invited to services. Jared just lost his dad in December, and then he was hit by another driver last week and his car was totaled. Luckily, Jared was o.k. I was happy to have an extra boy with us. He is still very distressed over his father's death and needs lots of encouragement right now. Daniel was ecstatic later to hear Jared had come to services. We will try to finish the work Daniel started.

Daniel already has gotten a job with the help of his roommate, Jeremy. Daniel is going to be a Barrister (sp?)! He is going to be working at Starbucks for the present, and he will be looking to enroll at U of K as soon as he has established his residency! Hopefully there are great things and great times in store for him.

So, yes, my little towhead is all grown up and is out of the nest now. Life is going to be different now for us all, but it makes it a lot easier knowing that he is in good hands all around! If you are reading this, son, be happy and live well! And send your old mom some coffee from time to time!

One tired, happy boy with his friend, Heather