Back to my roots

My childhood best friend got married this weekend! I flew home to North Carolina and had the honor of standing up as one of her bridesmaids. I can't wait to share the official photographs later on! Her wedding was gorgeous, and the reception was so much fun!

I stayed with my family for the weekend, sleeping in a twin bed in my old bedroom. I'm not going to lie... it felt a little surreal! Despite the busyness of the rehearsal and the wedding day, I was able to sing at my home church on Sunday and spend a quiet afternoon with my parents and younger siblings. It was fun, it was restful, and it was restorative.

I was able to revisit who I was and who I am. I spent the majority of my adolescence attending that church and school, growing up in that house, living amongst those faces. Although Josh and I spent the first few years of our dating relationship in North Carolina, that season now feels distant. Chicago is an entirely different world. I love it here and I thrive here, but I cannot sever my identity from the places I have been, the places where my spiritual mind was developed, my heart stolen, enduring friendships made. North Carolina holds my affections in an irreplaceable way.

I have to admit, though... at the end of the weekend, when I looked out the airplane window and beheld the Chicago skyline glittering in the sun, my heart leapt and I smiled. I was almost home.