milledgeville
OH BOY HERE WE GO//
I’ve been mulling over this post for… 4 months now. I guess I just didn’t want my time in MillyVegas to be over.
It really is one of the best places ever. It’s got great food, It’s got a great school (hint: not GMC), great shopping, great coffee, great parks (the greenway….. my heart….. ), and most importantly, great people. It’s just great.
First of all, let’s just talk about the food. We’ve got Hibachi Express that always closes too early. The best Barberito’s chain ever, visited 4 times a week by yours truly. We’ve got a great Pizza Hut, if you’re wiling to wait 8 lifetimes for it. TWO McDonald’s, 5 minutes apart- can you say sweet dolla tea? Wing Night at Amici’s, ENDLESS Wing night at Chops, Sushi night at Asian Bistro (RIP), Local Yolkal that provides fantastic food in an awesome atmosphere with awesome people for only an arm and a leg, other glorious fast food, and last but most CERTAINLY not least, my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and fourth meal: Cookout. What a blessed addition to this lovely town. Bless your hamburgers and your bacon wraps and your sweet tea and your milkshakes and your cheapness. What a place.
Now, for the school. Sweet Georgia College. I complained about you and skipped a considerable amount of your classes and occasionally questioned some (many) of “your” decisions, but I loved you. I loved knowing my professors and my classmates. I loved getting to know my residents, co-workers, and community directors, even when housing seemed to dictate my life. I loved every snow day and free tours at the governor’s mansion and front campus and your beautiful buildings. You were hard to leave.
As for shopping: shoutout to Jack & Darcy for being perfect and awesome for window shopping since you guys took out your $15 rack so I couldn’t afford anything. Shoutout to French Villedge for great conversations and awesome $10 dresses and pants and shoes. Shoutout to Lemon Tree for taking most of my paycheck with your irresistible jewelry and sweet employees. You guys are the heart of the Town.
Ah, coffee. My Sweet, Sweet Blackbird. Everyone said “why are you sad? You’ll have Octane in Atlanta!” and I do, and it’s cool or whatever. But it’s not even close. There’s nothing like walking into a warm Blackbird in the fall and seeing half of the people I’ve ever met, talking to them for 5 hours, and getting no work done. Or walking down to the basement to see all of your friends being totally dorky together. Or waking up at 6 on a nice spring morning and getting in the word at THE table while Chris is roasting the beans for the day. Or listening to the interesting pandora choices (Michael Jackson for an hour straight, then the entire Lorde album in order…?). Or getting to the counter and realizing you have a half off (can somebody say large dirty fogle chai?) or getting an iced coffee and it being the best thing you’ve ever tasted in your life. Nothing can match your atmosphere, the coffee, or the learning, growing, realizing, creating, and cultivating that happened within your doors. I’m so grateful for you.
Of course, there’s also the Greenway. I’m so, so sorry that I didn’t discover you until January, but I went literally every possible moment since then. Sometimes even impossible moments, like in the middle of ceramics when it was just way too nice to be inside or instead of one-on-ones with my boss. I’m grateful for all the work done to make the Greenway such a great place to be. There’s so many good places to hammock, there’s the mill to explore, the trail out to the beautiful pasture, the dock right where the river opens up, the random military obstacle courses, the awesome bridge and dirt path, the running trails that are the ONLY enjoyable place to run in the entire world, the picnic tables, the…everything. Every inch of the greenway is beautiful (and has probably been photographed by me at one point or another) and you are such a great place to go when nothing makes sense and you just need to see God’s glory. So much refocusing, so much fun with friends, so much solitude, so much beauty. I doubt I will ever find a substitute.
I’m almost done. I promise.
Okay, the people. What beautiful, loving, caring, sometimes stupid, strange, immature, wonderful, annoying, passionate, complex, awesome people. I made so many connections: bonding over senses of humor, interests, fandoms, coffee, hatred of classes, goals, dreams, and passions. Some of them hurt me and walked away, some of them loved me SO well and pushed me to grow in Christ. Some of them were somewhere in-between. But I am SO grateful for every relationship I built there, because the Lord used each one, good or “bad” to pull me closer and learn His character for myself, which is what relationships are meant to do. I got my current roommate, many lifelong friends and (hopefully, good grief) some future bridesmaids out of these relationships. I love you guys so much.
Last, but not least, my road child. Highway 49. The road everyone HATED and I will never understand why. Yes, sometimes you’re already 20 minutes late and you get stuck behind someone going 25 in a 55, but that means you get more time to look at the BEAUTIFUL scenery surrounding it. There are hills and curves and there’s only one stop light for half an hour. It’s perfect. 49, I did a lot of growing up while driving on you. You saw so many tears of frustration and hurt. So many cries of anger and confusion. So many pissed-off phone calls to anyone who would listen. You saw me running away to something comfortable, and you saw me transform into running into what God has for me. You saw those tears of frustration turn into tears of joy. You saw me stop calling people and start dialoguing with my creator. You saw many late-night drives when the sky was clear, the stars were bright, and the Lord was definitely there with us. You provided a place that was mine and the Lords’, and will always be. I learned so much about relationships, myself, the Lord, and life in general while driving on you. You saw, most recently, tears of thankfulness and awe when I realized what a gift the Lord had given me in this whole experience in this town, and in closure to move on. This isn’t goodbye, 49. You’ll always be my road child, and I know right where you are.
Milledgeville, the Lord has taught me so much through you. I learned not to judge a town by its size, that coffee is almost always a good idea, that there will be pain, but He also binds up, there will be joy, and it only comes from Him. I learned, most of all, through a combination of all of these things, that He is sovereign over all, He is faithful even when I am not, I am called to His glory, and I am so, so, so indescribably loved by Him.
Thank you, Milledgeville. Thank you.
“The Lord is gracious and righteous, our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, He saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”
Yep, I’m gonna cry now.
Psalm 116:5-9 || Job 5:17-18
NOVEMBER 18, 2014