Each year, I choose a word to attempt to guide my focus for the year. For 2025, that word is rooted. It’s a word that captures where I am as a mom, a business owner, and as someone who’s come full circle back to my hometown.
But if I’m being honest, I didn’t come to this word easily.
For years, we traveled across the country, chasing dreams and opportunities that took us to amazing places, meeting incredible people. I thought that’s what I wanted—a life of movement, of expansion, of new communities, always going and doing. So when we found ourselves back in our hometown, settling into what I once might have called a “smaller” life, I struggled.
Bitterness crept in quietly at first. I thought, “This is it? After all of that, this is where we end up?” I couldn’t help but feel like maybe I had missed the mark somehow. Was I wasting all those experiences, all that growth, by coming back to where it all started? Then when I found myself glad to be back, I still felt bitter about even leaving in the first place.
But here’s the thing about God: He doesn’t waste anything.
Over the past several months, he’s been working on my stubborn heart, showing me just how wrong I was. He’s helped me see that coming back home isn't going backwards—it was a blessing. Being rooted here doesn’t mean I’m stuck; it means I am finally planted—something I longed for since those hard days of lying on the same Residence Inn carpet in a new city, crying and wondering if I’d ever find a place to feel at home again.
I’m learning to embrace the freedom and gift of this season. We’re in a place where our kids can thrive, surrounded by family and a community that loves them. I have the space to build my business with purpose and intention, not as a means to escape, but as a way to serve the people I love right here. And more than anything, I’m learning to be content where my feet are planted.
As a mom, being rooted means showing my kids what it looks like to build a life of meaning and connection. It’s about being present in the everyday moments, the ones that don’t always feel glamorous but are so important.
As a business owner, being rooted means pouring into the community I grew up in. It’s about using the perspectives and lessons I gained during our travels and putting those to good use here, with people I know and love, in their own lives and businesses. I'm thrilled to see new beauty in the familiar and find ways to create and contribute right where I am.
And as a child of God, being rooted means trusting Him with the bigger picture, even when I don’t fully understand it. It’s about letting go of the bitterness and embracing the joy of obedience, of following Him back to the place He knew I needed to be all along.
For years, I’ve felt like a little potted plant—carried from one place to the next, always adapting to new environments but never truly sinking my roots into the soil. Every move brought hope that maybe, just maybe, this time I’d find the perfect garden—a place where I could finally settle, grow, and thrive. But instead, I found myself constantly adjusting, always on the edge of flourishing but never quite there. I longed for the stability of being planted, of having a space to stretch out and call my own. Now I finally have the right season, the right soil, and the right moment to finally call this place home again.
2025 isn’t about chasing what’s next anymore; it’s about being firmly planted and gradually growing into new opportunities. It’s about deepening my roots in my family, my faith, my work, and this community again. And I’m so grateful for the chance to do that.
So here’s to being rooted this year—fully present, deeply planted, and growing in grace.