Yesterday we took Allison to Charleston Southern University.  As many of you know, that is a very tough thing to do.  We are certainly going to miss having her at home, but we will easily be able to keep in contact. (I have talked to her twice this morning).  It is just hard to deal with the change.  We believe there are some great things ahead but none of us really like change.
As I unloaded the car, two thoughts came to my mind.  1.  No one has ever brought this much stuff to college and 2.  We must not have anything left at home.  We tried to do everything that we could to make the transition a little easier for her and for us.
We had to carry everything up to the third floor.  I think that if you added all the trips up the stairs together, we climbed Grandfather mountain twice.  There were certain things that had to be put together and setup.  Being mechanically challenged, it took me about twice as long as it would a normal person.
We said our goodbyes, shed our tears and hit the road.  She was ready for us to go.  She had a cheerleading squad dinner and she had to get ready.  She is ready for the next step and we will have to be also.
When Allison was a baby, she had a fondness for a part of her cloth headboard in her baby bed.  It became like a blanket to her.  She named it Gagee.  Eventually, she did not need to have it all the time and so we gently took it away from her.  We told her that Gagee had to go to school, but we just put it on top of the washing machine.  We have laughed about that over the years.  I told her this morning that I had to come home and tell Gagee that Allison had gone to school, but Gagee just believed she was on top of the washing machine.  Those type of things come to your mind in these situations.
Yesterday morning I woke up and immediately did what I try to do every morning. I did my little S.E.L.F. exercise.  S stands for surrender.  That is tough when your child is leaving home.  E stands for empty.  I want the Lord to continue to do a work in our lives and in hers.  L stands for Love.  I want to know His love and strength in a greater way.  F stands for fill.  I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  That is the only way to handle the difficult challenges of life.
This time is always meaningful to me but it was especially so as I prepared for the emotional experience of taking her to school.  It is just another lesson in learning to depend on Him.