Meeting a president
Ever since I saw in an article that President Jimmy Carter still teaches sunday school at his home church in Plains, Georgia, the thought entered my mind, wouldn't it be so cool to attend his class? I've been a long time fan. The man is an inspiration, a wonderful example of living out your faith.
Fast forward years later, the opportunity came up to go to Atlanta as a family. With excitement, I checked the schedule for when he would be teaching. Yes! Feb 3, 2019 - the weekend that we were going to be in Atlanta. Trip advisor has plenty of reviews of how to plan for this trip. Get there early and sleep in your car if you want to be guaranteed a good seat in the sanctuary.
Our son would not have the patience for this, so the best plan was to go alone. I evaluated the risks of driving in the dark, where there's a possibility of not having good cellular signal, hoping and praying that the car doesn't break down or get a flat tire, sleeping in the parking lot alone, needing a restroom in the middle of the night. How badly did I want to go?
Thank God for a supportive husband who knew how much this meant to me. The night before we left for Atlanta, when he packed my thermos into my bag, I knew I could go through with it.
It took us two hours and forty minutes to drive from Atlanta to Americus where we were staying for the night. We stayed at a lovely heritage hotel, the Best Western Windor Plus, ten miles from Plains where the church is situated. Hubby booked the Carter Presidential Suite, a circular room situated in the third floor turret of the building, for less that what it would cost to stay at a modest hotel in San Francisco. A photo of the Carters sitting on the same couch in the room we were in hung on the wall.
I left hubby and son at the hotel around 2:30am to drive to the church. On the ten mile drive in complete darkness, I passed by exactly four cars. I was alert and vigilant for any moving thing that I might encounter on the road.
I was so happy when I arrived at the church at 3am and there was someone to greet me in the rain. I was car #15. I peeked over to my left in the parking lot. A family with a young child in a car seat were still moving about in their station wagon. A few minutes later, car #16 rolled in beside me with loud music blaring. This went on for at least 15 minutes. I was in too good of a mood to be bothered. I put on my Beats headphones and tried to sleep.
If you've never slept in the car before in the middle of a southern winter, let me tell you it is cold. I was dressed in layers, but my nose and legs were cold. I curled up into a ball to stay warm.
I don't think I really fell asleep but time passed quickly and soon the sunrise woke me up ahead of the alarm clock. I ate two cinnamon buns with the tea in my thermos which managed to stay warm through the night.
By 7:30am, Secret Service was abuzz. We had our morning briefing. Bring as few items as possible. You will go through security check. Once you're in the building, you can't go back out. Line up single file according to your car number.
By the time I got into the building, the first four rows were already filled up. The usher asked me how many in my party. I said one. He directed me to the last seat in the front row right in front of where Jimmy Carter would sit. I was so giddy inside. I knew this was a blessing from God.
Jimmy Carter arrived promptly at 10am and started to talk. He related the day's lesson from Exodus 19 to life experiences and modern day context. Sunday school was interactive where he asked questions, and the crowd would answer. He gave a simple gospel presentation about being saved by faith in Jesus Christ through grace alone. He was charismatic, witty, thoughtful, but also direct and commanding. The 45 minutes went by so fast. I enjoyed every minute of it.
At the end of the class, President Carter said that he and Rosalyn would be "wouldn't say delighted... but willing to take a picture with everyone of you." We all laughed. He then added that "when you come for pictures, please come as a group and not one by one, or else I might think that you don't have any friends."
At 11am, service started in typical Baptist order that I was all-too-familiar with from my childhood. By 11:45 the service was finished. President Carter and Rosalyn made their way to the front and picture taking commenced.
Being in the front row, I got my picture taken ahead of the crowd. They instructed us not to touch or make conversation with the Carters. As I was walking up, I looked at President Carter and said, "I have friends..." to which he responded "I'm sure you do."
What an incredible day! None of this would have been possible without my hubby's support and encouragement. He planned our trip to Atlanta. He spent Atlanta Superbowl weekend driving us to Americus and back. He sent me screenshots of maps for offline use, phoned me at 7:30am to make sure I'm awake for the event, let me sleep on the drive back. This truly was a dream come true.
Fast forward years later, the opportunity came up to go to Atlanta as a family. With excitement, I checked the schedule for when he would be teaching. Yes! Feb 3, 2019 - the weekend that we were going to be in Atlanta. Trip advisor has plenty of reviews of how to plan for this trip. Get there early and sleep in your car if you want to be guaranteed a good seat in the sanctuary.
Our son would not have the patience for this, so the best plan was to go alone. I evaluated the risks of driving in the dark, where there's a possibility of not having good cellular signal, hoping and praying that the car doesn't break down or get a flat tire, sleeping in the parking lot alone, needing a restroom in the middle of the night. How badly did I want to go?
Thank God for a supportive husband who knew how much this meant to me. The night before we left for Atlanta, when he packed my thermos into my bag, I knew I could go through with it.
It took us two hours and forty minutes to drive from Atlanta to Americus where we were staying for the night. We stayed at a lovely heritage hotel, the Best Western Windor Plus, ten miles from Plains where the church is situated. Hubby booked the Carter Presidential Suite, a circular room situated in the third floor turret of the building, for less that what it would cost to stay at a modest hotel in San Francisco. A photo of the Carters sitting on the same couch in the room we were in hung on the wall.
I left hubby and son at the hotel around 2:30am to drive to the church. On the ten mile drive in complete darkness, I passed by exactly four cars. I was alert and vigilant for any moving thing that I might encounter on the road.
I was so happy when I arrived at the church at 3am and there was someone to greet me in the rain. I was car #15. I peeked over to my left in the parking lot. A family with a young child in a car seat were still moving about in their station wagon. A few minutes later, car #16 rolled in beside me with loud music blaring. This went on for at least 15 minutes. I was in too good of a mood to be bothered. I put on my Beats headphones and tried to sleep.
If you've never slept in the car before in the middle of a southern winter, let me tell you it is cold. I was dressed in layers, but my nose and legs were cold. I curled up into a ball to stay warm.
I don't think I really fell asleep but time passed quickly and soon the sunrise woke me up ahead of the alarm clock. I ate two cinnamon buns with the tea in my thermos which managed to stay warm through the night.
By 7:30am, Secret Service was abuzz. We had our morning briefing. Bring as few items as possible. You will go through security check. Once you're in the building, you can't go back out. Line up single file according to your car number.
 |
| Single file into the building for security check |
By the time I got into the building, the first four rows were already filled up. The usher asked me how many in my party. I said one. He directed me to the last seat in the front row right in front of where Jimmy Carter would sit. I was so giddy inside. I knew this was a blessing from God.
 |
| Front row in front of Jimmy Carter |
At the end of the class, President Carter said that he and Rosalyn would be "wouldn't say delighted... but willing to take a picture with everyone of you." We all laughed. He then added that "when you come for pictures, please come as a group and not one by one, or else I might think that you don't have any friends."
At 11am, service started in typical Baptist order that I was all-too-familiar with from my childhood. By 11:45 the service was finished. President Carter and Rosalyn made their way to the front and picture taking commenced.
Being in the front row, I got my picture taken ahead of the crowd. They instructed us not to touch or make conversation with the Carters. As I was walking up, I looked at President Carter and said, "I have friends..." to which he responded "I'm sure you do."
 |
| "I have friends..." |
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| Our photo |
What an incredible day! None of this would have been possible without my hubby's support and encouragement. He planned our trip to Atlanta. He spent Atlanta Superbowl weekend driving us to Americus and back. He sent me screenshots of maps for offline use, phoned me at 7:30am to make sure I'm awake for the event, let me sleep on the drive back. This truly was a dream come true.
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