Letting go.......

I was very thankful this past week to have my Mom & Dad keep our girls for a couple of nights to allow us to get some sorting and packing done. Actually, it is still mainly just sorting and getting rid of A LOT of stuff. Our goal right now is to minimize. It is actually a pretty good feeling most of the time. Sometimes it is stressful, some things are hard to decide on. It's funny because a few things I have kept back thinking I really needed those items, then a couple of weeks later, I am ready to pack it up and take it to the Haven (our thrift store ministry).
    One of my favorite things is to journal. I started keeping a diary when I was really young, and it is hilarious to read what I wrote about in third grade! And then middle school.....oh my goodness. It was really FUN to get to read part of these as I was cleaning out(slowed me down a bit). At some point my regular journals turned into prayer journals. Going back through some of these journals was just like a trip down memory lane. And it is AMAZING to look back and see all that God has taught me, all that He has brought me through, all that He has BLESSED me with! I was almost in tears just being overwhelmed with His goodness and being able to see how He led me through each season of my life. It was so encouraging. As we get ready to take this next step, I know there will be difficulties and I know there will be great blessings as well. I pray that the Lord will make me more like Christ. I pray He will grow me closer to Him than I have ever been before.
     I struggle with letting my "to-do" list overwhelm me and getting so preoccupied with all that needs to be done. I am praying that the Lord would teach me how to ABIDE in Him as I prepare for this big move, to set my eyes on Him and His promises instead of my list of "to-do's". I found a couple of great resources as I was sorting through that I read this morning. One of them is "Put off....Put On". It just lists all the attitudes/actions that are characterized by the old man and then the opposite of that which is who we are in Christ. I would like to post it on here.....there are 78 of them though! With scripture references.
     We had a full weekend with my nephew's birthday party in Dandridge and then back to the CMDA dinner Saturday night. It was exciting because this was our first opportunity to share about what we are going to be doing in Kenya. We are so thankful for the wonderful Christian friends and church family that the Lord has given us here in Bristol. Also, I think we finally managed to get a family picture made so we can order our "official" prayer cards! And over the weekend Aaron was able to get a lot of the tedious paperwork for each of us gathered together and mailed off. So we appreciate your continued prayers and praise God for the progress that we are making.
      I am hoping to figure out how to shrink our family picture. It's a bit huge if you ask me :)
Hope everyone has a good week.