Goodbye, Abilene. At Least For a Little While.

A few of our close friends and family already know this, but we are moving to Beaumont soon.

Yeah, I know that’s going to feel like a ball to left-field.

I mean, we’ve been in Abilene since 2009, so 16 years come August of this year.

Most of the people we’ve told have had the same exact questions:

Why Beaumont and why now?

Why Beaumont?

The first question is probably the easiest to answer, but I’m a wordy son-of-a-gun (as my friend Brandon likes to call himself), so we’re jumping into the Way Back Machine for this one.

Back in high school, I was introduced to a girl named Holly Parsons, via a mutual friend. We became quick friends, bonding over a love for MCR and horror flicks. She essentially became the sister I never had. Sometime in 2009, her family moved down to Beaumont, due to work relocation, and I went off to college in Abilene.

A little before spring break of 2010, the Parsons invited me to come and hang out with them in Beaumont for spring break. So, I had a wedding to attend in Andrews, where I hung out with Beckah for a little bit, and then headed down to Beaumont for the first time.

I immediately fell in love with the city.

It wasn’t West Texas.

It had a place named Rao’s Bakery, which served this ice-cream like substance called “gelato”.

It had a Barnes and Noble where I spent way too much money on way too many books that I honestly never read.

Actually, I take that back. I read two of the 10 novels I purchased. The first was Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There. The 2010, Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland had just released and I wanted to read the actual novel before seeing it (I did not accomplish this goal). The second one was Wuthering Heights. We’ll get back to that one in a moment.

The week flew by, and I returned back to Abilene, understanding that I’d become an honorary member of both the Parsons and Beaumont.

Back to Wuthering Heights, and why had I even purchased it? Well, like a lot of other students of Andrew’s High School, I had SparksNoted it prior to a routine book review assignment. I did that to a lot of those “required reading” books, actually.

Shocker.

However, during my first year of college I realized that a lot of those books were actually really solid, and dealt with themes I was interested in. So, later that year, I started reading through that list starting with Wuthering Heights.

In January of the following year (2011), I went on a winter retreat trip with the FBC Abilene college group. Beckah ended up going on the same trip. While we had hung out quite a bit in 2009 / 2010, due to her dating my roommate at the time, I really hadn’t seen her since they had broken up during the spring of 2010. It was also sort of humorous to be on that trip with her, seeing as somehow, I’d been saddled with that same roommate’s dog (Apollo) when he left, which was technically also Beckah’s since she helped pick him out. I already had a dog (Abby) and now had a second one I never intended to have.

Anyway, the point is, on that trip, Beckah sat next to me on the way there (she swears it wasn’t by choice). She noticed I was reading Wuthering Heights and we started to talk about it. Turns out girls really like anti-heroes, and our conversation about Heathcliff’s brooding nature and Catherine’s choices sparked something between us. One thing led to another, and a few days after the trip we were dating.

Spring break of 2011 we went down to Beaumont, second time for me, first time for Beckah. She fell in love with the city as well and equally became an honorary member of the Parsons family.

We began trying to find a way to move down there, praying about it for several years, but nothing ever materialized. There was never a definitive “no” from the Lord regarding moving to Beaumont, but we both felt and understood that Abilene was where He had us. We felt that the Lord was leading us to hunker down and invest our time and effort in the town.

So that’s what we did.

We got married, found decent jobs, got fired from those jobs, found new jobs, bought a house, graduated from college, realized I didn’t like the field I got a degree in (story for another time), got a third dog (Milo), found a great church family, found better jobs, made amazing friends, started a gelato business, found another great church family, conceived two kiddos, watched my wife fight like hell for both of them, lost one of those kiddos, had the other kiddo prematurely, went through COVID, moved to another house, got my masters, closed the gelato business, and found myself an even better job.

Through the years, we continued to go down to Beaumont and become closer to Holly and her family. We got pulled into her friend group by watching along to Doctor Who and The Walking Dead (shoutout to The Walking Doctor group), witnessed as she got married to her husband Adam and became Holly Floyd, and have accepted as the framily aunt and uncle to their two kiddos, with Emilee now being considered a cousin. Each time we visited, the same love for the city and area continued, but we had become content with Abilene being our home.

Why Now?

Which is how we arrive at the second question: why now?

Both of our current jobs afford us the ability to work fully remote. Due to this, over the course of the last year, we have begun making extended trips to visit family. For Christmas in 2024, we decided to spend a week with my wife’s family and then spend the week after in Beaumont. It had been about two years since we had visited last, so we were extremely excited to get back down there. The week was fantastic but went by way too quickly. Looking at the calendar, we decided to come back for a couple weeks during spring break of the next year.

Yes, there is a pattern here as it relates to spring break and visiting Beaumont.

So, this past March, we headed down there. Nothing really unusual about it. We planned to work for the first week and then take vacation the following one.

This time, however, something was just…different. We felt like we were part of the city, for some reason. Everything just felt natural. Like we had been down there for several years. We just felt like we were home. In fact, when the two weeks were up, we didn’t feel ready to leave. And it wasn’t even in a “we’re having so much fun, why do we have to leave now?” type of way. It was more like a, “wait, where are we going? why are we leaving where we’re supposed to be?” sort-of feeling.

So, we talked about it. And then we prayed about it. And then we talked about it some more and we prayed about it some more.

And we realized that the nagging feeling in the back of our minds had finally come to fruition.

We realized it was time to move to Beaumont.

But, why now? Like, why, after being in Abilene for almost 16 years, is NOW the time to leave?

Honestly…I don’t know.

I have no freaking clue.

Staying in Abilene doesn’t feel like disobedience, but it also doesn’t feel like what we’re supposed to do.

And to say that this is bittersweet is an understatement.

I want our friends and family to understand that we’re not leaving Abilene because of anything or anyone. We legitimately love this place. In fact, we’ve become majorly invested in so many ways that my prayer has been that same exact question as everyone else, “WHY NOW?”

Let me be even more transparent. My prayer has been:

” God, what are you doing? Anytime that we have felt you introducing change, it has been at a time that we needed it most. Whether it was a job, a vehicle, a house, or even just a circumstance, it has been because we had been praying for guidance for the next steps. But, we weren’t really even praying about this. We live in a city we love, hang out with friends we love, are part of a church we love, and live in a house we love. And now, just randomly, you’re asking us to move to a place where we only know a handful of people, go to a church we haven’t invested in, are going to be living in a house that doesn’t fully fit what we love, and renting out our current house as first time landlords. Am I missing something here? Why now? Why not 15 years ago? What all the time we’ve spent investing in this town and the people here, and more importantly, what about the time that that same town and those same people have INVESTED IN US?! Seriously, why now?"

And you know the answer I’ve gotten back?

“Trust me.”

And that’s all I have to offer at the moment.

I don’t know why we’re supposed to move at this very moment, and I’m sorry I can’t offer a better answer.

And I can tell you right now that I’ve been making excuses as to why we can’t go. And each time, the Lord just knocks them down. Just straight up, one after the other. Until I’ve been left with none to give.

Here’s a few examples:

Me: “Abby and Apollo are too old to move again. They’re 15 years old for goodness sake. I’m not putting them through that.”

The Lord: “Then let them have rest.”

We lost Apollo in March due to old age, and Abby this month (June) to cancer. Somewhat poetically, the house we’re living in now was both their first and last home. In fact, Abby gets her namesake from the city’s name. The two of them were never apart, even as puppies. They were not good dogs; they were the best.

Old Girl Abby

Apollo Being Photogenic

Me: “We can’t possibly replace our current church. They’ve been with us through thick and thin, and we’re both heavily involved. I’ve invested time and energy into playing in the worship band, being a leader to kids in the youth group, and we love our LifeGroup.”

The Lord: “Why do you think that any of that is your own doing? I’ve used you in those capacities and I can use you in others. Do not think yourself so valuable that others cannot take your spot. I lead you to this church, and I can lead you to another.”

I reached out to a church in Beaumont, back in April. It was one that seemed to have the same mindset as our church here. We visited them this past Sunday. No fewer than 6 people told us that they had been praying for us for the past few months.

Me: “Well, what about this house? How the heck are we going to find tenants to rent this place?”

The Lord: “Watch what I can do.”

We put the house up for rent on a Monday. We had a signed lease before the end of that week.

There are more, but I’m not going to list them all out here. Through each of them, I’ve been reminded of Peter stepping out onto the water to meet Jesus. I think we often preach about how little faith Peter had. But, let’s stop for a moment and think about a few things in this story that we seem to easily pass over:

The man is watching Christ literally defy physics. And instead of arguing that fact, he just steps out. No questions asked. Straight up assumes he can do it too. And he does.
They are in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, during strong winds and waves, which is honestly never a great time for anyone to be walking on the water.

The dude steps out and then realizes, “Yeah, what am I actually doing?” Same, bro, same. He’s not an idiot for all of a sudden thinking that what he’s doing is crazy, because it very much is. The other disciples are in a boat, not walking on water, and they’re equally terrified. So, yeah, I don’t fault him one bit for all of a sudden pulling a Wiley Coyote and realizing he’s doing something that he PHYSICALLY should not be able to do, regardless of if Christ is there with him or not.

And while I’m not taking steps on actual water, I can tell you that I feel like I’m taking steps into some very unknown territory. And the wind and waves of fear and uncertainty are most certainly making themselves known.

Are we leaving the comfort and safety of a place that we’ve known for 15 years? Yep.

Are we trading tornado country for hurricane land? Hehe, yeah.

Do I feel like we’re abandoning our friends and moving farther away from my family without a super solid explanation? 100%

Do I trust Him? Yes, and my prayer has become that of the father in Mark 9:24: “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’”

So, now you see why I chose to make this a blog post and not merely a quick “we’re moving!” blurb on social media.

Pray for us, please. Truly, I am asking for help here.

Pray for guidance and vision in all of the things we have to do to get ready.
Pray that our house in Abilene won’t just randomly implode and that we can be loving and fair landlords, and that we will have tenants who are the same.
Pray that we will find why the Lord is leading us to Beaumont.
Pray that we will continue to grow the friendships we have here in Abilene, while forging new ones in Beaumont.
Pray that the financial plan we have put in place will work, and ensure we are able to easily take care of the things that are needed with things in Beaumont and the rental house here in Abilene.
Pray for my unbelief.

For all of our friends here in Abilene, we love you more than you can possibly know. Every single one of you has had an impact on us and will continue to do so. Saying goodbye is not something we are doing lightly, and we’re not simply “checking out” so that we can go somewhere “new and exciting”.

Looking back, I can see that our repeated attempts to move to Beaumont weren’t rejected—they were simply postponed. We needed the growth, relationships, and experiences that Abilene provided before we were ready for this next chapter.

Abilene is a wonderful town, even if people think it’s boring. It’s shaped us in ways that neither of us could have expected. So, leaving it behind truly feels like leaving a piece of our hearts. Which, I think is a good thing. I think it’s good when saying goodbye to a place is not easy. It means that it isn’t simply a “good riddance”. It means that it has been a place of love and impact.

For those wondering about logistics, we’re planning to move at the end of July. Yes, we will be back to visit Abilene regularly. First off, we have faces and places we want/need to see. Secondly, it’s a twelve-hour trip (not counting stops) from the coast to where my parents live, so there’s no way that we’re not breaking that trip up into sections. Third, Rosa’s Cafe doesn’t exist in Beaumont, nor does Braum’s. Enough said.

Our contact information will stay the same, and we’d love to host any of you who want to experience Beaumont’s charm (and humidity) firsthand.

Please believe me when I say that we truly feel led to go down to Beaumont.

And maybe that’s exactly what we need right now, even if we don’t know why.