“Are you sure you
don't want to keep any of these?!” my neighbor asked me.
“Yes, Jan, I still
have tons of baby stuff in our basement that I am
keeping. Besides, this is all winter stuff and the odds of us having
a baby in those specific sizes while happening to be in the States at
the same time are really slim.” I responded.
Our
neighbors had a garage sale a few weeks ago and offered to let us
sell some of our stuff to help make some money and purge a bit
knowing that we hope to be moving to the Philippines in a few short
months. It was eye-opening to talk to them about some of the
differences between what they would keep and what we would. Granted
they grew up in an era where people saved and re-purposed many things
and nowadays we are coming back to a time of up-cycling or making
some cash reselling on Craigslist. However, we are moving HALFWAY
AROUND THE WORLD. We can't keep everything.
It
has been a bit overwhelming going through our accumulated possessions
from 3 years of marriage and having a kid in the mix. I feel like my
brain is going to explode trying to anticipate whether we will need a
particular item over the next few years and whether or not it will
actually last. Do we want to spend money to ship it over or buy a new
one when we get there? Will we use this? Should we store it for the
future day when we return to the States permanently? Are we going to
need someone to ship it to us at a later date? i.e. kids clothes,
holiday stuff, etc. Should we just throw it all out?!
There's
a lot to think about. It certainly makes leaving more real and
immediate. We're not just moving to a new house, but a new country
and new lifestyle. We can't wait to get there though. It's worth all
the hassle of packing and purging. The good-byes are still going to
be hard, but it's a sacrifice we're willing to make to follow Christ.
