Goodbye Old Friend, Goodbye Rosie

I couldn’t help but shed a few tears as I drove up to the service center. She sat all alone, covered in the yellow tint of spring pollen. I parked the car and walked over to her and unlocked the door for the last time. “Dear old friend”, I said, “this is it”… The transmission had failed again. Given the cost of repair we just couldn’t fix it this time. She was failing in her old age, time and miles had taken a heavy toll… but, oh, the memories…

I remember the night of my wreck. I was on the way to Allison’s dorm and crossing over Donahue from Lem Morrison an on-coming car got lost in my blind spot, I pulled out. The car t-boned the bed of the truck and spun me around. A pizza delivery boy who witnessed the accident pulled over to help. Upon discovering everyone was alive and virtually uninjured, told me before the police and ambulance arrived it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. I believed him. Rosie was never the same truck after that, even after having her fixed, she had lost something in that accident.

I remember September 10, 2002 sitting in my truck on my way to class, waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Samford Avenue and College Street. I had gotten word that my sister Natalie was in labor for the third time. Two and a half years earlier she had given birth to her second child, Grady. He suffered from a rare genetic disease and was ushered into Glory after a few weeks with us. We all held our breath through Natalie’s third pregnancy, there was a one in four chance the new baby could have the same condition. Right before the light changed my cell phone rang, it was dad. All he could say through tears and the broken signal was “She’s healthy, She’s healthy, She’s healthy…” And I will never, ever forget that day, sitting in my truck, on that familiar road…

I remember leaving with my new bride for our honeymoon destination. Every square inch of the cab and the bed was packed with things for our trip. We had almost reached our cabin in Blowing Rock, NC when out of nowhere it started a heavy downpour. I had to pull over and get our suitcases out of the bed, and for the last twenty miles Allison rode with a suitcase in her lap and one propped upright in between us on the console. We had begun our journey together with lots of uncertainty and faith, and Rosie was our chariot.

… After unlocking the door I began to gather my possessions from the toolbox and console. Every handful saturated in memories. I found the air filter I had been meaning to replace for three years now. I found the Auburn flag that hung outside the trailer in Conway Acres that was our first home. I found old pocket knives, sunglasses, a flashlight, and receipts of purchases made long ago. There was plenty of rope and cord in the toolbox. Rosie has hauled the furniture of dozens of friends, and all of my family, at least once. The rope lay coiled and ready, as if she were willing to do it all over again… I wish we could…

I took a few pictures and locked the door, when it latched shut she no longer belonged to me… She wasn’t mine anymore…

I climbed in my borrowed car after a brief eulogy. I thanked the Lord for the life I have had, and for the truck that transported me through it. As I drove away, heavy with guilt, I passed by the Opelika cemetery and the funeral home. If I had a million dollars, I’d buy Rosie the finest lot on the greenest hill in that place. And on the tombstone it would read “Here Lies Rosie, The Finest Truck A Boy Could Have”.

Yard Sale Re-Cap and Pictures

Sorry to just now be posting more info. and pictures of the yard sale. However, since Thursday I have been good for nothing due to the awfulness that is called strep troat! Yuck! I haven't been that sick in a long time. I am thankful that today, I am finally coming back to the land of the living. Above is a photo show of the yard sale for you to enjoy.

I wanted to give you a brief re-cap of all of the events from the yard sale week that took place. It was exhausting, but ended up being one of the most fun weeks ever! Our prep week was spent working each night through the MANY boxes and bags of items that we had been given. If I am not forgetting anyone, we had donations from 19 families!!!! It was such an amazing outpouring of love and support. We are so grateful to all that donated!

But, that did leave us with a rather large task on our hands of sorting through all that was given. Everything was spread out between our three guest bedrooms. It was overwhelming, but we just had to get in there and do it! Thankfully, I had someone here almost every night to help me, which made things go some much faster and much more pleasant. Also, my sweet friend Lesley even took the day off on Friday to help me.

By lunch-time on Friday, everything was sorted and priced and all at Heath & Martha's house (Zac had carried many loads over throughout the week). I was so surprised to have it done that quickly. I then tried to clean my house a little - it was a wreck as you can imagine!

That night we went out to dinner with Zac's family and then headed back over to Heath and Martha's to begin making sense of everything. We set up all the tables and tried to put out the items in an organized way. It took quite a while, and we ended up finishing around 11, which really wasn't too bad.

We were up the next morning at 5 and at Heath and Martha's by 6. Why yard sales have to start so early, I will never know. We were pretty much ready at 7 (our scheduled time to begin) and we had a good number of people that showed up then. It was steady for the rest of the day - so amazing. People just kept coming. One of the best things, too, is that most of the items sold. We really didn't have much to deal with after it was all over. I was very happy about that! It was also a very beautiful day - no rain, not too cold and even a little hot by lunch time! Thankfully, our yard sale wasn't this past Saturday, b/c it would have snowed. Crazy!

All in all, the day was perfect and so very fun. We had most all our family there, our sweet friends that helped the whole day, and other friends that stopped by to say hello and do some shopping. We were exhausted by the end of the day, but all of our hard work was worth the outcome. We are still just in awe of how the Lord blessed us.

Thank you again to all who donated, gave, helped and prayed for us. We could not have done it without you.

Thank You

Dear friends, my heart cannot contain the overwhelming gratitude I feel for everyone remotely involved with our yard sale, our adoption, and the generous donations and gifts of dozens of people. It is truly Christ in you the Hope of Glory. I am utterly heartbroken and humbled at the outpouring, the dispensing of the Grace of Jesus Christ through you.

Our yard sale was a booming success. The most fun I’ve had in a long time. The Lord Jesus brought in over two thousand dollars for the redemption of our child, amazing. And every penny will be spent on fees and expenses associated with our adoption.

Heath and Martha, thank you for your overwhelming hospitality, and for tolerating the flea market in your carport this week. Heath, thank you for your logistical insight in setting things up and moving furniture ‘til your hands bled (literally). Martha, thank you for making a delicious breakfast, hot coffee, giving us a place to call home for this organized chaos, and still finding time to work outside during the event. We are honored to call you friends.

Nathan and Lesley, what can we say. Lesley, you worked your tail off, and we consider you salesman of the year. We would have made much less had it not been for your salesmanship, you rock. Nathan, your words of encouragement, spiritual insight, and energy were a source of great motivation for us. The three amigos would never be the same without you. Thank you both, we love you.

Bomans, Feltons, Smiths, and Wagleys, you are our backbone, and support, we cannot get enough of our beautiful, wonderful family.

To anyone who donated goods, donated money, bought an item, moved, organized, prayed, encouraged, rejoiced, laughed, cried, and loved on us while getting this thing together, we love you. There are too many of you to name, but we love you dearly.

Finally, thank you, Jesus. What have you done, My Lord? What have you done? Why have you considered a sinner like me? I am amazed, stunned, and speechless at your endless mercy and grace in our lives and in this process. Your providence is unending and you hear our faintest cry, you meet our every need through your glorious riches. Blessed be your Holy Name forever and ever, amen.

Zac and Allison

Pictures to come soon...