Rebuilding Walls - Theresa mclees

As this sermon series unfolds, I’ve found myself relating, sympathizing and being in awe of Nehemiah’s rebuilding efforts. The relating and sympathizing comes from my personal journey of rebuilding my life in the last five years: standing on my own two feet post-divorce, my mom’s death, being the sole parent of a challenging teen boy, dating after 20 years! Many times have I felt that my city walls were destroyed and all I had in front of me were piles of rubble. The immensity of rebuilding was even more personal as I recently stood on one of these ancient city walls in the medieval city of Hondarribia, Spain (see picture). Ancient city walls like the one I stood on and are referenced to in the book of Nehemiah truly are massive! The desire to rebuild something this massive is daunting, to say the least. It takes will, energy, and more than anything faith.

It is faith that continues to carry me as I continue my rebuilding journey and leave this beautiful community of Placerville, my home for the last 16 years. Mady, Ashton and I will be building a life in San Diego County in a couple of months. Mady will be attending & living at UCSD while Ashton and I settle nearby. At times this move feels drastic. I am uprooting from a place where my kids and I are comfortable and steady. I’m choosing to leave a tight-knit community where I’m a known entity. 
Is rebuilding daunting? Yes. 
Is rebuilding possible? Definitely.

The stress of the long list of unknowns is appeased with the knowledge that I’ll be a short drive from Mady if college life gets overwhelming. And I’ll also be a short drive from my dad, two sisters, nieces and nephews (including a newborn niece!). Lastly, God has gone before me and opened up the door with a job at an online fashion retailer who’s core value is to generously give back to the artisans of mostly third world countries! I’ve already had the pleasure of dealing with an artisan in a remote village in Guatemala and quickly discovered that she loves Jesus!

Leaving my church family here at Cold Springs Church is the most bitter sweet. You have taught myself and my kids the meaning and value of “chosen family”. You all have shown me love and acceptance beyond understanding. So much so, that I foresee myself visiting soon and often. Because, as the Cheers theme song goes:

🎶“Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name” 🎶

So if you see me before I leave, I ask for no “goodbyes” please, but rather “see you soon”.
Much love and gratitude, 
Theresa

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We are so blessed to have Danielle Davis transition from Ministry Admin to the Executive Admin role. Dani has been making a huge Kingdom difference as part of our Core Ministry Team since September 2021. Check out Dani’s bio here. In May of this year, Lisa Vipond became our Ministry Admin. Lisa is a fabulous addition to our team bringing a variety of gifts in administration and creative arts. You’ll hear her beautiful voice on the Worship Team Sunday mornings too! Find out more about Lisa here.