Counting Blessings | A Heart in Two Places

Moving to a new place, something I'm experiencing for the first time, can be hard, and even depressing.
But it can also be full of adventure, new starts, growth, and beauty.

Tomorrow will be a month since we made the move to Charlottesville from Pittsburgh. The hard part, for me, truly lies in being away from my family that I am so very close with. I've been lucky to call my family my best friends. You don't get to choose your family, but even if I did get that choice, I don't think I'd be able to pick out any combination of people as wonderful and loving as the family I was blessed with, no matter how much thought, time, or research I put into the choice.
So that, for me, is the hard and depressing part. It is just so hard to be away from them all. To feel like I'm missing big moments and little ones that I've grown so accustomed to being a part of.
And I could focus on that…or I could focus on the good parts of moving. And focusing on the good parts, I've realized, puts even the hard parts into a new perspective.
For instance, this weekend I realized one fantastic part of moving to a new place: when I do get to go home, time with family is appreciated the way that it should be. The sounds of a room full of family, laughter, catching up, a million conversations at once; that is the blessing. And I still get to enjoy it, even though I don't get to enjoy it as often. How lucky am I? Now, when I do enjoy it, I really actually realize how blessed I am to have the love that I have within family.
So this; this blessing of family, it is one of the most wonderful joys in my life. 
And there are other blessings, too, with moving to a new place. 
For me, moving has meant a lot of free time to learn more about me. To reflect. To get acquainted with my new home. To pursue things I've been wanting to pursue. To think of Nick and serve him while he is so busy with his new job.
It has also meant growth in Nick and I's relationship. We only have each other, here. Of course, there are wonderful people surrounding us at the school Nick works in and at our new church. However, in a new place, the only true comfort is each other. As newlyweds, this has been such a true blessing, and it has grown us more in a month than I could have imagined. It makes me smile to know that God had this all in His plan for our move.
So my heart is growing, here, with this move. It grows as I find new places that I love. It grows as the sky shines so blue each day. It grows as I serve and find new job opportunities. It grows as hope is abundant and opportunities are seemingly endless, even when I don't see them quite yet. 
And my heart is continually growing in Pittsburgh, as well. A place that will always be "home." A place that we're determined to get back to, because even with the gray skies, my heart grows its roots even deeper there each time I go back to the place with the people that built me. When I laugh with the people that love me more than I could ever imagine, my heart grows there. 

So my heart is in two places, and I'm happy. Because it is a blessing when love grows, and when I allow it to grow in a new place and an old one at the same time. The old and the new work together to build me up and help me learn to love better and love this life. 
This…this is what makes me happy. This is all Grace.  Day 2, Let's be Friends