Sometimes the most surprising blessings come from unexpected places.
When we moved to Iowa, we thought we were finding our forever home. When we moved to Kansas City, we hoped, yet again, we were finding our forever home.
And here we are, for the umpteenth millionth time in our lives, moving again.
The decision to make a move is never straightforward. It is always bittersweet. There are tears and heartache but also hope and anticipation. It is a time of so many emotions, so many things to coordinate, and so much physical and mental energy.
But, if I could be frank, I’d say this:
Leaving a place is easy. Leaving people is not.
Our friends and family and community are the cornerstone of what makes life so full of light and joy. We have been beyond fortunate with the people that we have come to know and love throughout our many moves. But that is a post for another date. This one is about the move. This one is about what we have gained.
When we moved from Arizona, we gained the opportunity to be nearer to family. We gained the farmhouse with 4 acres of ground and spending time on the family farm and simply just spending time with family.
When we moved from Iowa, we gained a couple of acres – 7 instead of 4 – and job opportunities and a wonderful neighborhood and more time with other family and friends.
This move here, it’s also about family, but in a different way. It’s about this family. It’s my husband and myself and our two kids.
Y’all, time is so precious. If you are given the opportunity to spend more of it with the people who matter most in your life (your spouse and children) and it only requires your state of residence in trade – why wouldn’t you take it?
That being said there are many, many people who matter in our lives. I think I’ve made that clear; I’m not trying to discount the value that our parents and siblings and cousins and friends have in our lives. But you have to be whole in your home before you can be happy outside your home.
And we are finding that joy in Wisconsin. Even if we are moving in the dead of winter, because we’re smart like that.
A few months back, after all our things had been packed up and loaded onto a moving truck, I spent one last night at the Kansas City house. It was eerie, and more than a little devastating. It’s okay, I think, to feel excited for a new chapter and yet devastated over the last one at the same time.
We made some beautiful memories there. And we will make them again, here.
