Detachment

Detachment

We began our purging process by having a garage sale.  Leading up to the sale day we kept piling more and more stuff up in the dining room.  Up until the last hour of the sale, we kept searching through the house to bring things out.  Going through our things stirred emotions as I ran across many sentimental things, that brought back lots of memories.  

I was surprised by how hard it was sorting through things and deciding what to get rid of.  This stuff was not even the "best" stuff.  What a lesson in detachment, in realizing how attached I have become to things.  I even cried when we packed up all of the baby clothes and sent them off, both as I was remembering all the memories of my kids when they were little, wondering where I will get more clothes if we have another, as well as wishing we could bring them with us to give to those in mission.

I think we could all relate to Bridget's outward emotion, as she said "goodbye" to her little bike.  Even though she has another one, this one has memories.  She bought it with her own money, she pedaled it around with her stuffed animals in the front basket and her doll in the back.  It is time to let another girl enjoy it, but it's still not easy.

We set up a little poster telling of our mission with Family Missions Company and a donation box in hopes that people would be interested in what we are doing.  I was very surprised that in two full days and a steady stream of people, only 2 people stopped to read the poster and ask questions!  I am truly grateful for our friends, and our sponsors who are interested in what we are doing, especially realizing that the average person is not.  We are able to do this, because of your love and support!

Once the sale was over, I made sure that I had a friend bring over a trailer and volunteers to load it up.  This was to make sure that nothing came back into the house.  We still have a long ways to go to purge both our hearts and our home, but it was a good start!