Greetings! Recently the world of Annie Lynn has been upside down. As you can see Thursday’s post never came to be, but here it is now!

For most college students, Sunday means sleeping in and/or having a nice afternoon nap. Not with my Gigi. We turned in at a timely hour on Saturday night to prepare for an early alarm Sunday morning. To follow through with the goals of the weekend (hang out with her closest friends on campus, study, eat) our final achievement was to go to First Baptist Church of Jacksonville – the Nocatee Campus. Gigi attends weekly and she was very excited for me to meet her “church lady” friends. These women have supported her through so many ups and downs of life and are incredibly kind to her. I could not wait to put faces to all the names I had heard- many of those names are Susan!

First thing in the morning, after packing the car with my belongings, Gigi and I made our way to Nocatee. The large church is so friendly that it feels like a small-town church. They gave warm welcomes as if I was best friends with everyone, even though we had just met. Our first stop was the Sunday School class Gigi attends, where I was greeted with smiles and kind hellos. I am so grateful for how these women have taken Gigi under their wings not only to help her grow spiritually but also mothering and grand mothering her through her days in university. While our weekend together was wonderful, I cannot always be there with Gigi. It is comforting to know when I am not there she has these women to lean on. I am so proud of my daughter for forging her way through and finding this “family” who supports her and brings joy to her life.

After Sunday School our next stop was the worship service. (Honestly, it was to get coffee but who’s counting my cups?) We sat with Gigi’s women friends then quickly stood to sing along with the band. Pastor Spencer delivered a sermon worthy of taking notes to reflect upon later. It seems many churches base their sermons on pop culture with a splash of the bible. This was the word of the bible explained in an excellent fashion and then dug further into it by showing how it is applicable today. (Notice the “Greetings!” at the beginning of this blog? Thank you Pastor Spencer!) It was a fantastic morning and I was sad it seemed to end too quickly.

After church we headed to one of Gigi’s favorite Italian restaurants for lunch. We talked and laughed a little but it was bittersweet as the weather was rainy and both of us knew what was coming very soon. When lunch ended I drove her back to her dorm but this time I would not be going in with her. I gave her as many hugs and kisses as I could without embarrassing her.

On my way home I thought about our weekend. Rest assured I don’t want to go back to college life, however going to college to spend a weekend with my baby girl is one of the best ways to spend my weekend.