Keep or Throw Away?!

“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.