After 11 and a half years with either a baby, toddler or preschool at home, today all three are at school. I thought we would never get to this point. But happily, we are. And even better, Harry went off to school very happily himself. It is quite a thrill as a parent when all of those hours of hard work pay off, and suddenly, your child is trying out their new found independence. I didn't shed a tear and neither did he - we were both ready for him to start his formal education.
Now that the day I have been wishing for has finally arrived, what have I been doing all day? Well washing of course - that never disappears. And catching up on long overdue correspondence. But I have also been thinking about what we will need to pack to go to the ship. At this stage, they are keen to have us and they have a spot for each of the boys in the onboard school - the Academy - and they are very enthusiastic about Mick filling an Engineers position - only problem is that there is no Family Cabin for us yet. However, over time we have come to the same decision point each time - If God wants us to go, He will make it happen. Who knows what the future brings? So with this in mind, we are making preparations to go but do not have an acceptance letter yet to go in June this year.
Back to packing. What do you need when you are packing up your home, moving to a ship in West Africa with three active boys? What should we store? And what should we sell and give away? All good questions. With the flooding and bush fires devastating parts of Australia this Summer, it is a relevant question. If you had to leave, how many of things that fill your home would you keep? Or replace when you returned? I keep thinking about what I Need. The fact of the matter is that I don't Need an awful lot. I have a great deal more than I Need and that actually complicates matters. If I only bought what I Needed, then I wouldn't have a house full of stuff. Now I have to sort through it. Silly, isn't it? What we learned when we packed up our house to go in 2010 is that it is actually quite difficult and time consuming to get rid of stuff - especially if you would like to sell some of it. Ebay is brilliant but it takes effort and time to sell still. There is always giving away to family, friends and charity - easiest and quickest option if they are keen to take it. Then there is storage - luckily we have a little space in the roof for that. And finally of course, we have our 23kg luggage limit to take on the plane, as well as our hand luggage. Working this out makes me realise what I actually Need is so much different to what I think I Need. And brings me to my new favourite part of the bible as we prepare - the anxiety cure for people of Faith from Matthew Chapter 6:
25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
It kind of puts things into perspective for me as we continue to prepare for Service.
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