Some Kokomo Lasts...

I thought I would tell you about some of our "lasts" in Kokomo! I know not everyone processes this way (and that's okay!) but I'm very much of a closure sort of girl. Anytime I prepare to have a big life change, I prefer to keep track of some of the lasts and then all the firsts, too!

Here was one of my FAVORITE lasts: our last walk to the ice cream shop. Before I tell you about that, I must tell you we now have an ice cream shop EVEN CLOSER to us than the one we had in Kokomo, and we may or may not have already visited it. And there's another one just a couple of miles away. I'm itching to go. Ryan said something about not getting all the treats on the same day - I'm not sure what that means. (Just kidding. Kind of.)

But back to the lasts. :)

It was a warm day for a walk!!

 We'll miss you, Scoops!! By the way, if you're ever in Kokomo and it's "in season" - go to Scoops. Servings are GENEROUS!!! (And also - what in the world is up with there EVER being a time when ice cream is "out of season?" Not in my book.)

 Yeah, that's a single scoop. Like I said: generous.

I thought about saving this one for another day when I talk about some of our people goodbyes, but I decided to talk about it here instead.

Our last trip to Texas Roadhouse with Phoebe's people included our last time to go see Pheebs. I felt like I did pretty well with all the goodbyes I had to say, but THIS GIRL was my undoing. My absolute undoing.

 I put up a post on Instagram about it and someone asked how long we'd had her...so in case you're new here, I should explain that she is not ours. This sweet dog belongs to Ryan's boss and his wife, and for the last four years, we have been her adopted parents, watching her every single time they went away, whether for a day, a week, or a month. (We had her for an entire month once when they went to India.) I love Pheebs as much as I love Braeya Jo, and I could not imagine telling her we were moving away.

How do you tell a dog you're leaving? I didn't know, so I just said it, and then I burst into tears, and then she stared at me, aware that I was not okay but unsure of what to do with a melting-into-a-pile-of-goo Bekah-Mom. (That's what her people call me to her. Bekah-Mom.)

 BREAK. MY. HEART. Oh this sweet girl. I can't even.

They gave us a wonderful gift, which I'll have to tell you about another time, but this part of the card made me wail all over again:

(The Romans 8 reference is a nod to our most recent round of small group study, which her people were in with us.)

All of that to say our last time to see Phoebe unglued me.

Here's another last! Our last church video. We love doing them, and it just so happened that two of the pastors on our staff are retiring this week, and they were prepping a memory video for them. Ryan did a segment for Pastor Stan and I did one for Pastor Liz.

Scott, the videographer, was in our small group and is just amazing at what he does. We'll miss him (and his talent) very much!

And then, of course, there was our official last day at church. Saying goodbye to the church should probably be a whole post by itself. It continues to amaze both of us how God brought us to a church we never imagined we'd be part of (because it was so big) and He gave us so much through it. We learned from some gifted teachers. We made solid friendships. We were able to serve in so many ways (some that surprised us!). We will miss this place for sure. But we are excited to see where God will plant us in our new town!