Purging and Preparing

I have always enjoyed bringing my unused belongings to the MCC thrift store. I feel refreshed when I purge and I tend do it quite often. Lately we've been on quite the purging spree and while it does feel good to get rid of stuff that we don't need, this intense purging comes with some hesitation and a fair bit of sadness. It's hard to believe that for the next 6 years I really won't need my warm winter coat, my comfy boots, or my favourite wool scarf. And so off they go in yet another recycling bag full of my belongings. 

And come Saturday, our furniture will be off to new places too and it will be time to say goodbye to the only place our family has called home. I say this with a tear. I love this house, I love our backyard, and I love our neighbourhood.  I think if I were moving across town I wouldn't feel so attached to this place, but knowing that when we leave this home, we leave our entire lives in Abbotsford makes me cry. I will miss the time we've shared in this space. I'll miss having friends over for dinner here. I'll miss seeing Cody run to the window to see Daddy come home. I'll miss walking around Fishtrap and chatting with the neighbours. I'll miss our trees and our great deck. I'll miss seeing Cody play in the yard. 

We're not just purging for a move across town, we're leaving almost everything behind and with our suitcases and babies in hand, flying to the other side of the world. Seems a little crazy to me. But it's also exciting...  while this purging and packing and saying good bye makes me teary-eyed, the adventure ahead is something we've been looking forward to and we know it's where God has called us. But that doesn't take all the sadness of this intense purge away... pray for us as we prepare to leave our home, our family and our friends.