Over the past ten days we have been in the process of going through our house and packing up everything. Everything is labeled for Papua New Guinea (PNG), North Carolina (NC), or Garage sale. As most of you know we are moving to the JAARS Campus in Waxhaw, NC. we will be there for about 6 months and we plan to be back in the area this summer to sell most of our belongings before we move to PNG. We have purchased a 5×10 trailer that is a necessity for moving to NC. Many thanks to several partners whose gifts have made this purchase possible!
We have lived our little house for 6 years. All four of our kids were brought home to the same little house. (I don’t have a picture of our house currently, but I hope to capture all the kiddos in front of it before we move.) So as you can imagine we have quite a bit of “stuff” to go through. Honestly, it’s not just stuff, its our life that we are going through. Things that bring up memories and emotions of who it came from, or why we had it to begin with. We found out in our first three big days of going through and packing, that grieving and praying had to be a big part of the process. We had to hold on only to the memory, not the physical item. We were reminded that we cannot take anything with us when we leave this world so, why should we hold onto something that someone could make use of?
One of my sisters had the wise advice of taking a picture of the item to hold onto the memory and then let the item go. Here is something I choose to take a picture of to hold onto the memory and not the item.
This little figurine was given to me by my high school guidance counselor and his wife when Fred and I got married. He is gone now, but his memory will always be with me.
As we continue packing we will be going through the kids’ toy room and teaching them to let go things as well. Another one of my sisters wisely shared with me that we have to let go of the old to make room for the new. We can’t suppress the grieving that needs to come with letting go to make room for the new. Ecclesiastes tells us, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to keep and a time to throw away.” Would you pray with us that we can have the wisdom to teach this to our kids the best we can? We long to glorify God in all that we do and to make these transitions as smooth as possible for all of us! We love each one of you and we are very thankful for your prayers!
Jodi
Frodi's Flight Log 
praying for you! the sorting and packing is exhausting… but your perspective is so good. so much love and many prayers for the transition. ❤
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Thank you so much! We feel the prayers!
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Thankfully you can take the most important things with you! He will never leave or forsake you. May you feel His presence through the letting go of the old and the excepting the new. Our prayers go with you! Love you both and your family. Jim and Annie
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Sorting through and packing up to move a long way away in obedience to God’s calling is, in my opinion, the hardest the first time. Through this experience we learn to the depths of our being that this world is not our home. “Things” are not nearly as important as we think. Yes, it’s a grieving process, but also a huge growing process. So go ahead and grieve, but use your grief for fertilizer to grow! Love you guys and prayers for you as you stretch and grow.
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