roots vs. wings

On the same topic as my previous post, I was watching Sweet Home Alabama on tv the other night and one quote in that movie stuck out and bothered me. "You can't have roots and wings." I immediately responded "yes, you can" (do ya'll respond to the tv?), but the more I think about it, I'm not sure that's really true. You kind of have to pick between a life with steady jobs (hopefully), a house, a church you attend regularly, friends you see regularly, and the occasional exciting week-long trip OR you choose a life where you never really have any true commitments - flexible job, short-term rent, and friends and family you see much less often as you constantly move from place to place. When you put it like that, the choice sounds simple. Maybe.

Our friends, Kyle and Andrea, just got back from graduation in NYC. I almost teared up when I got the text from Andrea that said "it's official - kyle's a doctor!". It's such a long and tiring (and ridiculously expensive) road but all of that just makes it that bigger of an accomplishment when it's finally accomplished! So, our turn is next. When Ryan is really and truly and legally Dr. Pearman we will have accomplished the goal we have been working towards the entire time we've been married...and then what?

The closer we get to the light at the end of the tunnel, the more I find myself thinking about what we will do next. Where will we match for residency? Will we test our wings on another adventure? Or dig our roots deeper into the South? I've always considered myself to have roots and wings. I've always loved to travel and believed the world is way too big to spend your life in one place. In the next breath I believe there are people in your life that are way too important to spend too much time away from - and I love the South. And you can't really have both... c.r.a.p.

I heard a preacher who had been in the military say that moving from place to place and never setting down roots is a constant reminder that we're never truly "home" anywhere on this earth. Our true home is in heaven and that is where we are designed to be - this is all temporary anyway. It also helped him and his wife not get caught up in materialistic things. Believe me - from the 8 moves we've done in the past 4 years - you don't want to have much stuff to pack and drag along with you from place to place. Keeping it simple makes the job of moving way less stressful.

Since the majority of our families lives within a 3 hr radius of each other, I'm 99% sure we'll choose roots (happily). But that 1% of me still wants the adventure of experiencing, not traveling to, but experiencing different places. Who knows, maybe we can still fly south (way south) for the winters...