Brian and I had never left Texas. It is our home. It is our parent’s home. For me, it is my grandmother, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousin’s home. We had the opportunity to move this summer with the company we work for. Brian and I prayed, sought wise counsel, asked for the blessing of our families and mentors and looked for any roadblock that we could find that would keep us in Texas. In the end, everything pointed to Arizona. The way was smooth, the path was lit and encouragement flowed in like a raging stream, ready to wash our hesitations away.

We bought our Denton, Texas home ~ the first house we ever owned ~ on June 14th, 2007. We said goodbye to that home on June 14th, 2008. Brian’s sweet father and my precious mother agreed to make the trek to Arizona with two cars, two kids and two grandkids.

The moment my mother stepped off the plane in Dallas, the moment she hugged me, my heart softened and I covered myself with the careful burden of encouraging my husband and children and making memories for everyone. One of my favorite scenes from the movie Parent Trap is when Hailey Mills smells her grandfather’s lapel. He asks what she is doing and she says, “making memories”.

I believe the key ingredient to making memories is lingering and breathing deeply. It was time to take a deep breath and meander our way to our new home.