I read once in a book on nutrition that the best way to protect your young children from environmental toxins is to not move, buy new furniture, or carpets for a 6month prep time to conception, the entire pregnancy, and then the first year of life. I remember looking at my husband and saying “So…when are we supposed to move?”
I tell you this story because we are moving. I don’t want to get into all the ups and downs of the ordeal – of which there are many – but I do want to talk a little bit about how as much as I hate moving, I secretly love moving.
We are moving 5 miles from where we currently live with my parents into a place that is about the same size as our first apartment – which we deemed “too small” when we found out we were pregnant and we now have 2 kids! There are many reasons why we chose this place (and that’s another post for another day) but the hardest part is that our stuff has been in storage for 18 months and I forget what we own. Seriously.
<— This, by the way, is the OPPOSITE of how I look when I’m moving. Carrying on…
Ok, so last week, I counted. I have moved 13 times in 12 years. Seriously. And I’m HORRIBLE at it. The whole packing and cleaning after searching is just exhausting. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around how to plan for it (although, sweet Mary wrote this blog post just for me about what I should do.) I get overwhelmed packing and as my mom and sister can attest, I get bored, so I leave it until the last minute and then open a box in the middle of a room and throw stuff into it (ok, that was definitely me on our very first move, but now, I *try* not to do that).
Simultaneously, I am in a Bible study group where we are reading “Making Room for God in Your Hectic Life” which is full of great information and thoughtful guiding on leading counter-cultural, less-busy lives and how to be ok with just being and basking in God’s rest.
With the information in this book, I have really started thinking about the things I am involved in and using my time on. (Again, another post for another day.) I have also really started thinking about ways to be more organized. I know if I don’t get some kind of handle on it now, at some point, we’ll be lost in a sea of disorder and it will be hard to claw our way back out.
So here I am, 2 days pre-move and I bet you wonder what I’m doing. Well, I just had a cup of coffee. I might take a nap. I’m having a party tonight. And I don’t think I’ve packed a box completely yet (although, my husband and mom have done a lot so that I can do my mom stuff.) And obvisouly I’m blogging. I can hear the questions in your mind, so I’ll try to answer them.
I’m mentally preparing. I’m kind of a processor. I get overwhelmed quickly. So I like to think through what I want. It’s actually why I’m horrible at organization – the idea of undoing the mess is too overwhelming, so I have to get it perfect from the start, but how do you get it perfect until you know what you will need?
Already, we have an unpacking plan. As much as I hate moving, I love the de-cluttering. When we put our stuff in storage we touched everything and said “keep, sell, donate, trash” and there were labeled piles in our house. As we unpack we will do the same thing (especially since we haven’t seen it in so long and know which appliances we will not be needing). This is the part I secretly love. I instantly feel more organized when I can not find a place to store something the size of a window-unit air conditioner. It is bliss for me.
Also, I’m already looking ahead at how I can keep my house clean and tidy from day one. We are moving into a new build so I know there will be dust and “new stuff” smell for some time and frankly, I don’t like that stuff more than I don’t like to vacuum. So already I’m coming up with a plan that I will actually do to keep things on the up-and-up.
To go along with this, I am creating a planner. I’m not really a planner kind of gal. I’ve always bought one, used it for about a week, then given up on it. But I can’t remember everything like I used to be able to. I don’t sleep enough. I schedule appointments for the kids months in advance. Husband travels for work. I can’t keep it straight now that it’s not just me. So I need a planner. But I need a planner that works for me. I’ve spent an embarassing amount of time looking for one I like and have decided to make my own, taking the ideas I like best and putting them into my own binder.
I am also already looking at activities that I participate in and I am finishing up the year in whatever, but then either stopping or changing my role in different things. If according to our goals that God has given us as a family, I measure all of my activities and the kids’ stuff, I can say “This is where I feel led to serve” and do that and not feel guilty for not doing something else. Which is awesome.
The hardest part about preparing for all of this is that I’m busy NOW. I’m doing research. I’m losing stuff in boxes as they get packed. I’m trying to remember and plan and sort before anything happens which is kind of like sitting in a rocking chair (ya know, it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere).
And I’m trying to keep the holidays simple (I know, people who want “simple” don’t move in December). Actually we’re talking about ways that we can all chill out this holiday season. Check out this post to see some more ideas.
I guess this post is just a way to remind all of us that life is busy. And life is hard. And life is messy. But that every step of the way, we have the opportunity to seek God, to learn what He’s trying to teach us in that moment, and to grow, even through the messy, inconvenient, no-fun-at-all parts of life.
So, I may hate the logistics of moving. But it’s a gift. I just have a choice to see it that way.
“May these words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” -Psalm 19:14
I dare you today to look around your mess, find the blessings, and look for what God is teaching you. It might not be obvious. It might not be realized for days, months, or even years, but the gift is there.
-Leah
P.S. So, my birthday is coming up and I would LOVE if you would subscribe to my blog as my birthday present. 27 new subscribers for my 27th birthday. And, BONUS, if we reach my goal of 115 by the 10th, I’ll do a giveaway next week. So, if you read this but aren’t subscribed, change that by filling in the subscribe box on the right 🙂 Thanks!
We moved in 2009 from Pennsylvania to Iowa. The tree came down the day after Christmas and we left PA on December 29, arriving at our new home on December 30.
What made it REALLY challenging was the fact that hubby was an associate pastor at a church in PA and we lived RIGHT next door. No one except for three people even knew he was interviewing in Iowa. We were fairly certain that the job was going to happen and we had started doing some packing but had to hide the boxes so people wouldn’t catch on! My mom and dad came out for Christmas that year and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you all of this – the Christmas dishes were packed as soon as they were washed and dried, by 9:30 a.m. December 26th, the decorations were ALL down, the gifts were put away, and it looked Christmas had never happened We lived on paper plates and plastic silverware, started packing earnest and had everything in a truck by mid-afternoon on the 28th. We spent that night in a hotel about an hour down the road (it had started to snow pretty heavy and we wanted to get out of that mess!) and headed to Iowa on the 29th, staying in a hotel about three hours away from our destination which put us in our new home by around lunch time on December 30.
It is indeed survivable.
I just moved during thanksgiving and it was a whirlwind adventure, also getting a bit smaller house…..I see it as a way to clear our junk and declutter the house, but also as a way to declutter the bad habits we have formed between me and the kids and myself and my husband. It’s kind of a rest button. A blessing of new starts among the messy chaos.