Moving Muse

The movers came yesterday and packed up most of our shipment; today they return to finish it up and haul it all away. The house is starting to look bare and it brings back memories of our last move. Nada q ver, eh; totally different this time.

First off, I don’t have to have the place empty and clean. That just about killed me last time. The stress was unbearable and even the kids remember me falling apart. This time we have two weeks left before we fly out and those will be days of sorting through what’s left (although most is already done) and finding new homes for everything.

We hired a moving company this time, and so I spent the last months gathering what we wanted to take with us, piling everything up in one area and doing 75% of the packing myself in my totes. I left the kitchen and books for the packers to do, which took them most of yesterday. They also are making a generalized list of what is in each tote, not a detailed description like I did – so much easier!

By this time during our last move I was questioning why we were moving, not wanting to say good bye to my life in Colorado, wondering what had possessed us to consider taking a job somewhere else. I learned not to allow emotions to rule decision making. This move has been strategic, taking us down a path that we never intended, but we can see now where it is leading us; we never would have considered a move overseas had we spent the last 2½ years in Colorado – that would have had us four years in one place, almost a lifetime!

Am I excited about Quito? I have many dreams, mostly revolving around it being as fulfilling as Colorado was. The kids are hesitant, and it is difficult to see that we took them away from something that they really loved and have been missing it ever since. What if it doesn’t pan out the way we want it to? I have a lot riding on the school fulfilling expectations, and I don’t want it to fail, but it very well could.

Watching everything being packed up and shipped, knowing all the money that an international move involves, makes me really evaluate what we are investing in, wanting it to be a sure thing. But it’s not at this point – emotionally it’s not a sure thing – and that’s scary. We live by faith and not by sight, as 2 Corinthians 5:7 says. Never have I felt that I’m living that as much as now.