We have all heard the phrase "Home is where the heart is". I have struggled with this over the last seven months. Seven months ago we picked up and moved. It was a move that came out of nowhere. I fought the move through tears and anger, but there was always a still, resounding voice that kept saying, "Go!" from within my spirit.
My entire life has been spent in Texas. My journey as a child started off west of Dallas, living in a trailer park, where my grandparents also lived. After a few years of living there, we hitched our home to the back of a truck, and hauled it down the interstate. Off we went to another trailer park. It's an interesting thing to move an hour away, but to bring your home with you. We lived in that same mobile home until I was seven and my parents decided to build a home nearby. Even though our new home was much nicer, I remember longing for the trailer park. I remembered the familiarity of playing on our porch, skating around the park with neighborhood kids, and swimming at the clubhouse. My little heart ached for the familiarity that we had in the home we hauled around.
Years passed and we were in our new home, enjoying it, swimming in the pool, playing football and basketball on a daily basis, and having friends over. When I graduated I didn't go too far. My first stop in college was an hour away. I was in a relationship and I couldn't imagine anymore distance at the time. My friends were also going to this school so I followed along. We made our home in a dorm room and a few months later had the option to move to another, larger dorm, so we made the move. Midway through my experience I soon realized that I was not at a college that had a lot of Christian influence. Besides my high school friends, I felt like I was on an island when it came to my walk with Christ. I decided to apply to Baylor, hoping to find a better fit. This was HUGE for me. Up until this time I was constantly clinging to familiarity. I could not imagine leaving my friends and going to a place where I knew no one, but I felt led to apply just the same. I was accepted and off I went that following year.
I moved into an apartment with a girl that I met from a board of people needing a roommate. I loved Baylor, but financially it was not working out. I had already signed a lease for the next year with some friends in a duplex so I decided to take some courses at the local community college. From there I started my application process again. I was becoming quite good at the whole applying thing at this point. I applied to University of Arkansas and to a university in Texas. I had started dating my husband, who had been my best friend for over six years, at this time and yes, that played into my decision. I visited both campuses and in the end decided that University of Arkansas was too far when it came to really giving things a go with my husband. I moved into another apartment with three other girls that I had never met. It went well, but after a year I had met friends in the Christian sorority I was a part of. The following year I moved into a rent house with some of my sorority girls. My husband and I got engaged right before I started my journey into student teaching. Once we were married, we moved into an apartment in the neighboring city for six months and then we bought a house near our hometown.
All of this being said, I moved ten times (before this last move) and eight of those times were within six years. Yes, some of those moves were small, but it started building up more resiliency to being in situations that were unfamiliar. However, once we moved into our home as a married couple and started having kids, I felt planted again, rooted, and I wanted nothing to do with the unfamiliar again.
Like I said, our move to Tennessee came out of absolutely nowhere. I'll save that story for another day, but just know that it knocked me off my throne of security. Since we moved we have visited friends and family in Texas and without fail I flood myself with tears all throughout the visit. When it comes to the phrase, "Home is where the heart is", I have said a hundred times, "My HEART is here in Texas. What are we doing?" However, as any Texan knows, you will always have a special love for Texas, no matter where you go. Other states may be beautiful, wonderful, etc. etc., but there is just something special about Texas. Period.
Hence my new bumper sticker...
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