Busiest week, EVER!
/Tuesday afternoon the 19th through Friday evening the 22nd were some of the busiest days we’ve experienced in all of the moves we’ve done over the years. When we were in the Air Force, a team of packers and movers would show up, box all our stuff, load it onto crates, nail those crates shut and seal them with tape that bore our signatures. Those crates weren’t opened until they arrived at our house at the next destination. We purged our household stuff before and after each of those moves, but generally didn’t have to pick and choose carefully over what was going. It all just went. This move required more logistical brain work than I have ever had required of me. I’ve mentioned this before, but will break it down even further here:
Stuff to send to Africa - this is stuff that will hopefully last a decade or longer, as we desire to be on the field until we are retirement age, or longer Lord willing. We loaded some furniture and a wood shop of tools to make the furniture we couldn’t take, which we are really excited about (our team expressed need for wood shop tools, so it was fun to be able to pick these out knowing they will get good use). For 9 months or so I frequented the local thrift stores for clothes and shoes for boys to grow into (some will be able to be found there, but we’ve been told it’s a challenge, and to bring it if we can). We were told to bring any small appliances we can fit that will aid in food prep for the drastically different market situation we’ll be getting to know, and we packed up my sewing and leather work stuff to hopefully use for ministry, including my grandpa’s WWII steampunk chest full of flax linen (that cannot be found in Africa) for household needs and skirts for the team ladies and for the local woman (if I can establish that this is culturally appropriate. I’m convinced leather and a good strong linen fabric are as versatile in their usefulness as strong super glue or duct tape. The more folks we talked to that are on the same timeline as us and will be in training with us, the more we realized how unique our situation is. Most locations will not ship crates or a container, and many of the families are much younger, and have fewer members. Being able to crate stuff to send was a HUGE blessing, but also a significant burden. It’s almost impossible to anticipate what our needs will be long term and we know for certain we’ll get that container and realize that some of the stuff was a waste of space, and others should have been added instead. We know this is impossible to avoid, but our frequent conversations with team members gives us hope that we will be prepared, and we know the Lord provides, so even if our container sinks to the bottom of the ocean we won’t be in need.
Long term storage trailer - we purchased a trailer for a few family heirlooms we wanted to save but then quickly realized that the more we can pack into it, the less we’ll have to resupply when we come home on furlough. We hope to purchase a small home that will serve as a respite and landing pad for when we are back on home assignment every few years. Every M that we’ve talked to up to this point has emphasized how beneficial it can be to have our own space for our family to rest. We will tuck away the money we made from the sale of our home in Bellevue, and look for something to purchase in a few years. We packed our trailer to the gills and know opening it will be an interesting project, as much of what we saved may not be relevant by that time, and some of the things we got rid of will have been very useful. But again, trying to wrap our brains around what we might need is nearly impossible.
Get rid of - this was a hard category for me, as I’m a saver. I wouldn’t consider myself a hoarder, but I’m no Marie Kondo. I have ridiculous nostalgic attachment to some things we own. While I’d done an inventory of our house a couple of times throughout the summer and even in recent months, as well as going through cabinets and closets to empty them out, I was NOT prepared for the amount of work it was to sift through what remained after the truck pulled away. There were things that were donated to a thrift store or given to family or friends that I wish could have fit into the trailer, but some of them are better of being used and enjoyed than tucked away in the darkness for the foreseeable future. All of my house plants (I am a bag lady, but I’m also a plant lady) had to go, as it’s illegal to take any flora outside the U.S. I tried to figure ways around this, but there is no legal route to be taken. Francey, Lyn and my sister’s sister-in-law Jaime, my sister in law Cara and my Great Aunt Jacque have all my beloved plants now residing in their homes. I did repot a few into cheap pots so I could crate my favorite plant pots to send to Africa. There’s a nursery there and I am hoping to find some beauties to put in those pots to brighten our space there.
I sit finishing this post on Sunday the 31st. I’ll abruptly cap this off and start a new post about what the past week here on campus in VA has looked like for us.