Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area of southern Texas a few weeks ago, and as TJ and I discussed the news, we toyed with the idea of moving to another state. Both of us are born and raised Californians, and both of us love the idea of living life with purpose instead of getting stuck in a rut. And both of us have never lived outside of our home state (other than extended trips).
The result of this conversation was that I called up my dear old Uncle Lemonglayde in Canyon, Texas (near Amarillo) to find out information about the Lone Star State--he and his family having escaped Cali and moved there over ten years ago. The result of that conversation and many follow up discussions between TJ and myself of our future hopes and plans was that we are bound for the Promised Land of Texas, leaving around October 20th!
Everything we looked at pointed east for us, and it seemed like everyone we talked to had either considered moving to Texas at some point or knew someone there. Even the Sunday sermon was about Abraham and Isaac leaving their families to sojourn in the land of Canaan. Lots of people expressed the fact that they'd miss us, but are so glad for the good opportunity God has provided for our family. We made a list of pros and cons, and the pros were long and extended past the bottom edge of the paper. The con was singular and simple: moving away from both of our immediate families. But this isn't the old days, where you never traveled outside the area you were born and raised and people who left were seldom heard from again. A long day's car ride, or a two hour flight makes visiting relatively easy, and of course the hundred and one ways of keeping in contact through phone calls, chat, texting and other social media are available. So even that con is a faded one.
Yesterday I commenced the process of selling off all our worldly goods that we cannot bring with us. It's a cleansing process, and fills me with joy to get rid of boxes and boxes of STUFF we don't need. I am somewhat of a pack rat, and had about ten plastic bins full of fabric from years of sewing projects. Gone. Six book shelves full of books reduced to four boxes, the rest--Gone. Four boxes of old files and memories scanned into digital media so I no longer need to store the originals. Crates upon crates of old tools, duplicate tools, building supplies, exotic wood pieces I've been saving for ten years, for a project "someday"--Gone. Oh glorious feeling of cleanliness! All our possessions must be reduced to what will fit in a small U-Haul towed behind TJ's Ford Ranger.
It's a good day. God is good. Family is good. Everything is good.
What I will miss the most are the friends we've made here and the church we've been thoroughly enjoying being part of. Family, you will always see whether you want to our not--LOL. Friends tend to fall off the radar and fade into the distance. I will miss you all so very much!
Bella has started jumping up and down at random times and yelling "Yay Texas!" It's so cute. Our girls are going to love it there!
I still pinch myself every so often to make sure I'm not dreaming.
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment