Seven years ago, I met Chase. It was my first week in Texas and nowhere on my radar did I think I’d be meeting my husband-to-be anytime soon. I thought, "Those things happen, when you’re like 30, right?”
Now, surrounded by a cacophony of boxes, we are starting a new leg of the journey. This Texas boy and I are moving to the Music City. Ironically, I’m also nearing that famed 30th birthday. Wild right?
Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I was revisiting memories of this past year. Watching daily updates as my baby girl passed milestone after milestone. Leaving the hospital 3 days after her due date weighing 7 lbs 5 oz. Just like her momma. Sounds pretty typical, until you know her journey outside the womb started 4 months before that day. 105 days before to be exact.
As I write this, she’s climbing on the couch. Climbing people! That’s the new skill she acquired yesterday. (For a micro preemie, crawling and walking are gifts at this point.) Now she can climb on the couch without any support in 5 seconds flat. She’s not supposed to even be a year old yet! She’s definitely keeping me on my toes. You should see her run with abandon across the couch. She hasn't learned to play it safe just yet.
One way we play it safe is trying to work everything out before we act. Jossy Chacko
We are looking forward to the prospect of Nashville. Praying for a smooth transition. It’s crazy to walk away from our good jobs and the new home we were building into the unknown. Our motivation to pioneer this new path is to have a village of friends and family surround us - passing on our heritage to Emma.
Move from preserving to pioneering. See risks as your friend to love, not as your enemy to feared. Jossy Chacko
When we moved here to McKinney, it was a wild ride. God showed up in lots of ways big and small - but it was such a whirlwind, I did not have time to reflect or capture the moments in writing. I remember bits, but I know there's more.
Planning to chronicle our adventures. Hoping to look back like I am today at my little girl's NICU journey. Nothing was guaranteed and yet, we look back with joy (and sometimes pain) at how her life began. There was no status quo and very little comfort to cling to. Now, it's a beautiful story to look back on.