It is a bittersweet feeling to leave a place you love, a place that is woven deeply into your soul.
Goodbyes have become a part of who I am. I am more aware than ever that I likely won't be in one place for longer than a year or two (or maybe three if I'm lucky) at this point in my life.
This constant moving isn't in my nature. I'm a homebody, a person whose roots run deep.
However, I've learned that staying in one place isn't always God's will. God's will usually involves getting us out of our comfort zones.
Leaving means tearful goodbyes around every corner. It means driving down the streets you know like the back of your hand and telling yourself, "this is it; this is the last time I'll be in this place."
Leaving often means unsaid words and feelings that were never revealed because you know the things you reveal could never lead to anything that lasts.
Leaving is tough. It is difficult to pack up your life and move to strange new places and big cities. It is scary to leave comfort behind for new opportunities. It is a bit heartbreaking to leave people behind that you've grown to know and love.
Though leaving is difficult in more ways than one, having more than one home is a blessing I never knew I'd have.
I've learned to embrace the changes. I've learned that having more than one home is a blessing. Though leaving is tough, it is even tougher to always wonder what may have been if you'd only had the courage to leave, the courage to step out on faith.
Having more than one home means having people all over the place that you love. It means having memories of laughing harder than you ever thought possible all over the place.
Having more than one home means being able to unroll your sleeping bag in any number of places. It means stopping for the night "just because" when you find yourself passing through a town or city you used to call your own.
Having more than one home isn't just packing boxes and city limit signs flying by; it is late night dinners and movie dates with people who've become your family.
It is walking the city streets on a winter night and sitting on a front porch on a summer day in the country. It is feeling at home in a city or in the country and everywhere in between.
It is growing your wings. It is stepping out of your comfort zone. It is learning to stand on your own two feet.
Having more than one home means that new places remind you of people you know from another time in life.
Having more than one home means loving more fiercely because you know that the people you have the pleasure of being with today you may not be with tomorrow.
Having more than one home means your heart is just a little bigger and a little more open to new people, new places, and new experiences.
