Sunday, April 29, 2018

Bittersweet Goodbye

Today the five of us spent the day up in Ocala at Druid Hills UMC. The church is closing forever tomorrow, and today was their very last worship service. We were thankful for the invitation to come and join the church for its last worship service as well as a farewell celebration and luncheon. 


One of the first people we saw at the luncheon after worship was Jeffrey. He and Parker went through kindergarten through 5th grade together at South Ocala and also were in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts together. It was so good to reunite these two.



Always trying to work with technology - attempting to fix the projector so we could watch the tribute film. 
Loved the quotes and butterflies on all the tables. 
The staff got a chance to share - this was Miss Joy the nursery worker who often babysat Wesley and Davis.  And then Miss Lucy who was the choir director when Daryl arrived.
These folks were part of the transition team to help work on discerning the future of the church. Plus teenagers Lindsi and Jami were recognized for all of their hard work around the church in whatever capacity they could help with in the last few years. 



Former pastors all got the chance to share including Daryl who shared some memories and his hope that the legacy of the church would live on in every single member wherever they end up.


The church leaders took a minute to also tease Daryl a bit about his OCD - they showed off the chart he left for how to setup the tables an chairs in the Fellowship Hall that was still hanging on the bulletin board.


At the end of the luncheon celebration, we sang one final song together. 


Davis decorated Lindsi's hair with butterflies before their picture. 


We stayed around for quite a while and took our time going through the buildings and taking some pictures. We also visited the parsonage - our old house for six years.








Parker's old aloe plant has grown huge! 


We loved the final message on the church sign....


We wrapped up our tour down memory lane by stopping off at Bruster's for some ice cream before heading home.

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