to add to that, i found myself in a season where i never felt like i was able to completely rest. i didn't feel at home in the place i was living, a relationship ended that i thought was for the long-haul, and it made it hard to ever feel like i could just relax. i don't think i have realized how difficult those months were until looking back on them now.
and while those days were often exhausting, i feel as though a new season has been shifted into and a renewal has begun to occur within me. the catalyst: i moved last weekend into a home and into a neighborhood. this is a transition i was so ready for. i got out of a noisy and cold apartment and moved into a place where i can settle a bit. where families play outside. where there is quiet instead of beer cans laying in the hall outside my front door. what an incredible change and amazing blessing.
the place you live has an effect on you in a way that i was completely unaware of until recently. your home, the place that is your respite from the world, has the profound ability to create rest and peace or continue to further the stress that daily living can often perpetuate. this was a new realization for me and after a season of living in a location where i never felt able to truly rest, i am so thankful for this new chapter and season. i'm thanking the Lord for his sweet faithfulness in providing this opportunity, this house, this neighborhood to renew and invigorate my spirit again.
the week before i moved i also made a quick trip to nashville, my heart's home. it had been almost a year since i'd been and i was itching to get there. there is something that happens to me there. i slow down. i breathe deeply. i feel creative. i feel alive in a profound way that i do not in dallas. it is good for me to go there and i pray that one day i will in fact call it home. for now though, dallas is where the Lord has placed and kept me. nevertheless, my trip provided a time to breathe and begin to prepare for this new season. i read, drank coffee, spent time with my sister, and sat in beautiful locations like the one above. that was on the patio of an italian restaurant. enchanting evening. i returned from my trip ready to turn the page of a new chapter.
so here i am in a new house with renewed energy and hopes for what this new season will bring. i pray that it will be a sweet one with times of celebration, joy, peace, and rest. i can't wait to see what the Lord has in store.
