Today we loaded all of our worldly goods into a train car, bound for a shipping vessel, bound for a semi-truck, bound for Brno. Lord willing, we'll see our stuff again in six weeks (we recently learned 6-10 containers fall into the Atlantic during transit each year--eek!). We missionaries move ourselves, without any fancy-schmancy packers or movers (military friends, kiss your packers during your next move!), so I thought I'd share the experience here. You can see how creative and recycly we get to keep costs as low as possible.
70 boxes came from Okinawa and we packed 55 more here in the US. When we finally see these boxes again we'll enjoy some items that were packed on December 26th last year!
I decided to take my grandmother's china this time. I cushioned the teacups with maxi pads. Genius, don't you think?!
Every box has to be labeled and its contents inventoried. I practiced writing my numbers the European way. See the ones and sevens? I'm so Euro savvy.
Once all the boxes were packed in my in-laws' basement we lugged them upstairs and into the garage. The girls are actually at a helpful age, which is awesome.
In addition to the boxes, we padded and saran-wrapped seven pieces of furniture, which we inherited and are taking with us.
We rented a truck to get all our stuff from my in-laws' house to a warehouse. The girls mistook it for a rock-star stage.
All 125 of our boxes fit onto two palettes.
Here comes our container, into which the warehouse guys transferred all of our stuff, built a wall, and then drove our swagger wagon in it (the van pictured in front was a gift and cars in Europe are super expensive, so we're taking it with us!).
Mark and I felt good after that beastly job was done! Now we're living out of carry-ons. If you see us in the same outfits repeatedly, don't judge.
I often think of the faithful missionaries who went to foreign mission fields over a hundred years ago. They packed their belongings in their coffins, fully expecting to die on the field. They took ships to their new homes and never saw their loved ones again. How spoiled are we to do missions in an age of air travel, Skype, and texting?! Thank you, Lord, for sending us and using someone like me. You are merciful and mighty. Thank you for providing us with a mission, a home, a people group to love, a container to get our stuff there!