1 week after accepting the job in Birmingham my parents sold their mountain house (that had been on the market for 5 months). 3 Days after packing up and moving to Birmingham my sister and I loaded up the 3 kids and went to visit the mountain house one last time before my parents moved out.
My parents built this mountain house 13 years ago, but they have owed the land sine I was a baby. Although i didn't grow up in this house or even live there for any length of time, the house did have a lot of history for me. 2 Weeks after they moved in I hosted a Campus Outreach women's retreat there with 40 girls (and no furniture) Over my years in college and beyond my parents hosted my sorority, my South African college mission team, a CO staff retreat, and lots of my friends. Not to mention all the gatherings and friends of their own they hosted. My Parents always said the Lord gave them this house and they wanted it to be used. Tucked away in nature with a 360 view of the blue ridge mountains it was a place of peace and beauty for many people to enjoy.
During our last visit we soaked up as much of the house, view, and town that we could.
We walked around downtown Brevard hitting up our favorite shops and eating lunch at our favorite soda shop, Rockys.
We had dinner at our favorite steakhouse, Binions.
And my sister and I went and rode around Ridge Haven. RH is another special spot to us (my parents house was on RH property) It's a camp and conference center that my sis and I grew up going to. I made my first visit when I was 5 weeks old and continued to go almost every year for either a camp, youth conference, or family visit until my parents moved there for my dad to work on staff full time.
I know we will continue to go back to visit, but it will be different now that my parents don't have a house there.
The best part of my parents house was the two story huge decks that overlooked this view. Although I have never been a mountain person, you can't help but see the Glory of God in this view. Especially during my years in the city this house was such a place of refuge for me. To go from sirens and noise all the time to peace and beauty like this was a gift for the holidays and my times of vacation.
It was really surreal saying good-bye to this house for the last time. We knew the day was coming for a long time, but saying good-bye is never easy. We had a lot of great family memories in this house!
I think because I had just said good-bye to NYC and I have been in the middle of such big personal transitions it did not really hit me when my sister and I drove away that it would be the last time. My family has gone through a lot of change this year and I'm not sure if it's really all hit me yet. It's still weird to me that when I go home for the holidays it's not this house. Thankfully my parents are back in Fairhope, Al (where I grew up) and have a great house and life there! At least if I can't get a mountain view when I go see them I can get a very cute town on the water!
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