"What if it's another Waco?", "It's pronounced Wacko."

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?"

~ C. S. Lewis

I was born a Texan. I spent the first 15 years of my life in Ft. Worth, Rockwall and Waco. Yes, the infamous Waco. I don't remember anything about living in Ft. Worth. I do remember Rockwall and the house we lived in on Jackson Street. I remember our next door neighbor and how I idolized her 2 daughters. I remember my little friends and having birthday parties in the backyard. I remember starting  kindergarten and being broken hearted because all of my little friends were in the class across the hall from me and I knew no one in my own class. I remember trying to be brave every time I attempted to stay the night at Jenni's house, but never being able to follow through with it. I remember the day we left Rockwall. I looked at the house one more time as Mom backed out of the driveway, not knowing fully what was happening, but knowing my life was changing and I didn't like it.

We headed 2 hours south to Waco. When we arrived at our new house I began to glue my art projects onto the wall in my new room. This came to an abrupt end when the adults saw what was happening. I didn't sleep at all that first night. I had a life-size, cardboard cutout of Amy Grant in the corner and it didn't help the creepy feeling. I tried to adapt to this new place. I had no idea why we were there, except that my dad was going to be the pastor at a new church: Church On The Rock, Waco.

When I was 15, we left Waco and moved to Orlando, my dad's hometown. I not only left all of my friends and familiar places, but the state I loved. It was hard. I went through a depression and cried alot. I tried to adapt and make friends, but when your home schooled and your only link to the outside world is church, making friends was a tad difficult. We had 1 girl in the youth group and 6 guys. Let's just say my phone rang alot and it wasn't the 1 girl calling to hang out :)
We've been here for 13 years.
NONE of it has been easy, but I have some more life-long friends and familiar places now.

Last weekend, a big group of friends got together in Waco.
Some of them had not seen each other in many years, others have stayed close.
All of them have one thing in common: Church On The Rock, Waco.

Looking back, I can still see the sanctuary with the orange pews...the overhang on the side of the building where my friends and I played during Sunday night prayer...the excitement I had every Sunday before Children's Church and the dread I felt when my dad told me I needed to start singing on the worship team...my dad's office with memento's that different church members had given him...the secret hole in the floor where important things were kept...decorating the youth room with posters and pictures...the proud feeling I had when my dad would preach (even if it was super long). All of that never fails to remind me of the people, people I will never forget and will be forever grateful for knowing. If there is one thing about my family that I am extremely proud of it's that we make friends for life. So, if you are our friend you are stuck with us :) Don't get me wrong, I watched my parents walk through many painful experiences in Waco, but I'm sure they would say the good far outweighed the bad.

I would have loved to have been at that gathering last weekend. I haven't been back to Waco since 2006 and every year that passes my memory fades a little bit more. So, if you are from that moment in time and you are reading this, I pray that you never forget. Covenant was made in that place and no matter how much time goes by, it can't change that fact. We miss all of you and hope you know how thankful we are that we were apart of your lives even if it was for a short while.

Who knows...maybe we'll make it to the next COTR reunion :)

Philippians 1:3