Packing days always lead to reflections. It is a moment to watch all of your belonging go into boxes and wrapped up to make the trip to your next assignment. Seeing all of the things I own leads me to reflect on certain things and lead me to make decision about the future of my stuff.
As our packers where trying to identify the contents of certain boxes, they showed me a heavy plastic box full of notebooks. On the outside of the books was a journal from 1983—my first journal. This was the journal I began in the morning of my English class. The teacher had us write for a certain amount of time every day. I remember looking forward to that time because there I could write anything I wanted. It was also then that I began a regular practice of writing.
They also uncovered a box of letters that I had written to Monica during my first deployment as well as boxes of photos and slides. These keepsakes are part of my history. They are the most personal of my memorabilia and they take me back to the times when they were written. To some degree, I save too much. But I feel that if I can hold on to some of these things I remember and pass on the lessons of my past—but more importantly the devotional lessons of serving our God and serving him daily.
The process also helps me take stock in what I own—and wonder how it truly owns me. I also wonder how we may have even less after our next move if we take time to thin out a little more of our stuff.
Packing days are days of reflection for me. This is time that many people do not get a chance to have because they do not move every two to three years. While, many times, this moving is a struggle it is always good to take stock in what I own.
—–
Photo from @dailydwelling Instagram account. Follow my wife, Monica, as she also takes photos of our move.