It’s almost June and it feels like this year has been a decade long already. You’ve got to know that feeling too…

When I was prepping for my 2020 New Year’s resolutions in December I decided to make a Pinterest board of my dream life to make it easier to imagine. I wanted to fill it with scenery, ideas, images and quotes that best described the life I wanted to cultivate in 2020. My son snuck into our room and even changed our letter board from a quote I had placed on it to one that he saw at school “Your future is bright, I see it with 2020 vision”. 

But the next few months did not seem to be so bright and to be honest, my life felt like it was a purse that was violently dumped and shaken out onto the floor. Everything fell out and and nothing was left in its place. 

I sat quietly for a few weeks trying to process all of the change all at once. Praying, journaling, and seeking counsel. 

But sometimes that kind of shaking can lead to new opportunities that you would have otherwise never encountered or chosen from a place of safety.

This is a screen shot of part of my 2020 vision board… it’s full of nature, adventure and beauty.

This Covid season has brought many challenges to my family, but God kept whispering “I’m in this. Walk confidently” and another time I felt like I had a knowing of “Your season is changing, be ready”.

I obviously thought that the season changing was understood to be covid challenges, homeschooling, weddings canceling and not being able to carry on with life as usual, but I would later realize there was more to it than even that.

My husband resigned from his job 3 days before COVID hit the U.S.

Things dominoed pretty quickly and we had no idea that it would slam the economy, job opportunities, and a booming photography season to a screeching halt. 

Prayer.  We were living on prayer.

God answered in ways that were unfamiliar to us. Many of these ways were quietly written in my journal of God’s faithfulness. 

One afternoon I got into my husband’s truck to pull it around the corner and the only clip of a song that came on the radio was “And when my circumstance leaves me with empty hands, you are the provider of my needs.”. I felt that same knowing there too. 

More fear. More prayer. More surrender.

A few weeks later Josh got the opportunity to head down to his sister’s incredible AirBNB farm, Wanderin Star Farms, in Dripping Springs, Texas to work for a few weeks. The kids and I followed shortly after and my weak and crushed heart began to come back to life in the beauty of nature, in the cold rushing water of the rivers and the healing sound of cousins running around and laughing. I had no idea what the cost of quarantine, social distancing, stress and complete annihilation of my life had actually done to my heart. 

I spent several evenings plopped under the stars praying, questioning, asking and crying out to God for answers. 

That’s when we began to consider and ponder. 

Is this shaking an opportunity in disguise? Where is God in this? He has not abandoned me, so He must be walking with me guiding and providing for me. 

Doors in Lubbock continued to remain shut when I felt like banging them down by force. 

Was this a chance to grab ahold of the dreams of our heart? To live and work near beauty, to raise our kids near a family farm where they hunt snakes with cousins, climb boulders, stargaze and explore endless acres of creation? A place for me to photograph in endless beauty?

I felt more fear than I’m willing to admit, but slowly the possibilities and lifestyle that I had hoped for began to glimmer in front of me. Then I remembered my dream life board that I had made months earlier was filled with wildflowers, rivers, hiking, exploring and nature. 

So we prayed more. 

God kept opening little doors one step at a time and confirming each new one in the weirdest of ways. So I took another trembling step towards surrender and away from fear.

Sometimes an unexpected unhinging of everything leads to an acceleration of your dreams.

After weeks of talking it over we took a family vote. 

All 5 of us voted to relocate to Dripping Springs, Texas in August. 

A few months ago I remember Josh asking me if I would ever want to move again and I said, “I wouldn’t say never, because I have no idea what will happen in the future.” Before when someone would ask me that I would immediately say “No, we will be in Lubbock for forever. I’m done moving!” It was weird to remember how my heart was turning towards surrender even then.

What does it look like for you to pursue the life you want and take a leap of faith when you feel like you are stepping off a cliff into the unknown?

That’s what this feels like. There is both fear and doubt, but also an incredible sense of taking the reins on life and risking big to create the life we want for our family and our children.

Small living with BIG adventure and BIG impact. 

So there it is. I wrote it and hit submit.

We are moving. 

What does this mean for my clients in West Texas? I will be here until August and then will continue to come back every other month to book sessions to serve this area, but will also begin building my business and connections down in the Dripping Springs, Austin, Wimberley, New Braunfels, Fredericksburg area.

I will book a wedding here anytime of the year since I can stay with family. 

Lubbock will always have a piece of my heart, but now we feel like God is calling us into a new and different season for our family. 

Do you have a story of when you stepped out in faith in a way similar to me?

I would love to hear it!

Feel free to write me back from this email to share with me. I would be so grateful to see how you took a risk and what you learned and experienced.