I'd like to make this short and sweet, so I will make it a list. I'm good at making lists.
1. Friday was our last day of school. We had Kathryn Scott (from N. Ireland, associated with Vineyard music, wrote the song "Hungry") lead worship and do a Q & A session with Jenn Johnson as our closing session. Q & A can sometimes be disappointing with a lack of quality questions, but this session turned out really really well.
2. The day ended early after we had a short time of impartation from all the BSW staff via a fire tunnel.
3. I packed and cleaned when we got home.
4. We got dressed up and ready for our graduation service on Friday which was taking place during the evening church service. It took forever to read through the 370 student names, but it was really fun to walk across the stage, receive our certificate, and hug Brian Johnson, Jenn Johnson, Benni Johnson, Bill Johnson, and Brandon (bass player for Jesus Culture); plus we were on iBethel.tv!
5. After graduation a huge group of us went out to eat at Red Robin to celebrate, eat a late dinner, and just have a good time together.
6. Early on Saturday morning we (the family) all got together for breakfast at 7:15 AM. I made blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes and cheesy eggs. We had to eat early because Josh and Dougan had to leave by 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM; plus we all wanted to be awake to say goodbye. We also filled out "encouragement plates" - paper plates with each of our names on it, filled with encouraging notes for everyone. Some of us started crying already when Josh and Dougan left...maybe the tears can explain how close we've all gotten in the last month. There was now a hole in the house.
7. The rest of the day was pretty lazy. Em left at 12:30 PM. We teared up then too.
8. Amanda, Tim, Sam, and I were on our way out to pick up some late lunch when Simeon and Ben rode up in a car outside the house (they had been at the healing rooms and then out with friends); they got out and said that they came to say goodbye. I said, "Oh, well I'm not leaving until 5:30 PM." And they said, "yeah, we know; but we're going to go to the lake and we don't think we'll be back soon enough, so we wanted to come and say goodbye." Right then, hugging Ben and Simeon, I started to cry and reminded them that they had to write something on my paper plate before they left. I made Amanda, Tim, and Sam wait so that we could all leave the house together; I hugged Simeon and Ben one more time and said awkward goodbye statements for whatever formality felt necessary. In the car Sam gave me Kleenex because I wasn't holding it together really well. For some reason their thoughtfulness to come back and say goodbye specifically to me really meant the world to me and hit my heart. I'm not normally a big crier, but I cried then.
9. We hung out for the rest of the afternoon and didn't do a whole lot; Amanda and Sam drove me to Oxford Suites to catch my shuttle to Sacramento. I started tearing up again when I said goodbye to those girls. I love them so much.
10. I rode a few hours to the Sacramento airport, checked in easily, found out that only a Burger King was open, was suddenly glad I had brought some food with me, and set up camp with my laptop because the airport as free Wi-Fi! What a blessing. I posted my last pictures. I've caught up on my blogging (though I'm not finished with the processing part), and now I'm going to order a cup of decaf coffee (at Burger King) and read a book until my flight leaves at 12:40 AM. I'm hoping to sleep on the flight...
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