Moving is always an adventure.
Whether you are moving a mile away or an ocean away.
It can be so exciting,
But it also comes with the mundane business of getting moved.
Moving comes with to-do lists.
Our decision to move to England was followed up with a long list of things to do on this side of the ocean.
and another list after we arrived there.
It was obvious this was not a typical move. The to-do list was filled with unique steps.
Like shots.
Bud, myself and the little one!
Also passport photos.
We were thinking we would go get pictures done... no big deal.
Not taking into account that when a baby is involved, everything is a big deal.
The photographer gave me a chair to sit in and hold her so that she faced the camera.
This little one was just as content and peaceful as she could be,
until he snapped the picture and the flash bulb did what it does best...
it flashed!
Her arms went up - bent at the elbows, her eyes opened wide and her mouth formed a perfect circle.
The picture looked like one of those baby dolls with plastic limbs and a squishy tummy!
And she went to England with that picture in her passport.
*****
The part I dreaded most was packing.
So many questions!
Do we keep this? Toss it? Give it away?
The way our move was handled, there were two shipments, packed over three days.
In the first one we sent the things we would absolutely need to have soon after we arrived in England.
So we sent our cooking utensils and pots, dishes and silverware.
We sent sheets to use for curtains, since we wouldn't know how big the windows would be
or how many we'd need.
Many others had made these moves before so there was a lot of advice available.
This shipment had to be limited to just a few things because these would be sent to arrive quickly.
You had to choose carefully what to include.
Our household goods and furniture were shipped on a "slow boat"
The movers wrapped and boxed up everything in one day,
and the next it was all put into crates on a truck and taken away.
It would be awhile before we would see them again.
In a matter of days, all our "things" were gone.
We said our goodbyes to friends and left what had been "home" for almost three years.
With our luggage and car, the three of us headed to our other "home" to spend these days with family.
Both of our families lived in the same town, so that part was easy.
We had a few weeks left to spend making memories with people we loved before heading overseas.
That part was hard.
Goodbyes are never easy, and we were leaving for a long time.
I grew up near the ocean.
and we took advantage of it while we were there.
An uncrowded beach is a perfectly peaceful place to breathe deeply.
Simple and yet majestic, the sound of the waves, the smell of the salt water and feel of the wet sand between your toes. There is nothing like it.
Looking out on the horizon, the vastness never fails to take me by surprise.
It's good to remember that the water has boundaries. That it stops when and where God tells it to.
And that this same strong powerful God directs our steps.
We knew He was directing us then.
And we knew He would be with us.
We pointed across the water and said to our almost 6 month daughter...
"Way over there?...
that's where England is."
I'm not sure if I really thought she'd get it.
But I was beginning to.
The size of the ocean said it best.
We were about to be moving our family a long way from home.
**********
We still had to get there, and our next stop was New Jersey.
It was the last item on our to-do list.
In New Jersey, we took our car to the terminal and checked it in for shipping overseas.
When we left there, everything we could do on this side of the ocean had been done.
We were as ready as we could be.
We went back to Dover where we would be flying out the next day.
It was weird.
I remember thinking we were so tired, but that doesn't adequately describe the feeling.
We needed a new word.
One for so tired, completely hopeful, quite nervous, a little scared and a lot excited!
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