I'm telling you what! We have moved many times in our 11 years of marriage. Each time I dread the packing... more the cleaning... but they always seem to go hand in hand. Usually I procrastinate and at the last minute I throw everything into whatever boxes I can manage to scrounge up by dumpster diving at the nearest Dollar General store. I'm sorry. I'm just too cheap to pay money for cardboard boxes I'm going to throw out when I'm done. Then, when I run out of boxes I put everything in garbage bags. I'm sure that horrifies all of you list and organizational types. It horrifies my poor husband too. Especially when it comes time to unpack. But in the end everything is packed, the house is clean, and we are moved. Not so this time around. Jamie gets to do it his way, and it is essential to our surviving the TSA!
TWENTY 50 POUND BAGS!!! Moving is a little different when you're trying to cram as much of the necessities of life as you can in to twenty 50 pound bags that are going to be checked by the TSA and foreign custom agents. And when your very organized husband (You have no idea how thankful I am for him right now!) is determined to pack each and every bag deliberately. AND have an itemized list of the contents of each bag to hopefully speed up any searches. There is no throwing the dirty linens into a bag to be washed when we get there. No Dollar General boxes and Hefty bags. This time we're doing real luggage and space saver bags. Everything neat and tidy. We made the best investment ever in a digital luggage scale so Jamie knows to the ounce how much is in each bag. I'm just sorry we're so busy I don't have time to "cutesy" up our luggage tags. Besides, all my craft stuff is being packed up anyway... The sacrifices we make.
Thanks to our ever Faithful God and your prayers and support we have less than one month until we board our flight to Zambia with our one way tickets! IN ONE WEEK God took us from 95% to 99%!!! When it rains it pours - the blessings! I know there are a lot of exclamation marks in this paragraph, but they really need to be there! Not only that, but there have been individuals and churches contributing to our much needed start up costs for when we arrive in Zambia! The Lord has been beyond faithful in going before us and providing just when we need it. What an adventure this has been, and we're only getting started!
Please continue to pray with us that our final 1% - it sounds so measly doesn't it - would come in, and, Lord willing, a little extra. Due to the deflation of the dollar and a 67% wage increase in Zambia our support is not going to go as far as initially anticipated. But we have a God Who supplies all our need according to His riches in Glory. He has provided and will continue to provide.
So, as we pack up our real luggage and space saver bags, say our goodbyes, and savor these last few weeks we can't help but stand in awe of all God has done these last couple of years and we look with anticipation to what He is going to do in the years to come. Thank you for partnering with us in this journey. We wouldn't be here without you.
