What You Need Most When You Get There....

We have been living in our new place for four days now. It still has that sterile just moved in feel. Empty cabinets, available kitchen counter space, and lack of personal belongings.

I found out yesterday our unaccompanied baggage will be delivered on Monday. 500lbs of what we need most. It's funny when I look back at packing that "What you need most when you get there." moment.

What you need most when you get there....
What do you need most when you get there? Is it the Xbox, IPad, coffee maker, bean grinder, favorite sheets, keepsakes, or clothes? "You only get to ship 500lbs priority shipping" barked the transportation officer. "Those 500lbs should be what you need the most when you get to your new destination."

The first week of two in the hotel we missed everything about our homestead in Lawrence, KS. Our neighbors, friends, the forest, the view out the front window, and even that squeaky stair step... second from the bottom... when trying to sneak downstairs in the morning without waking the kids. We also wished we had the Xbox, Plasma TV, Bunn Coffee maker, the bean grinder, and our favorite clothes.

Now three weeks into our new adventure I believe we have a better understanding of "What you need most when you get there." It doesn't weigh 500lbs. It won't fit in a couple of huge boxes. It can't be measured by linear feet, and logistically planned and loaded.

What you need most when you get there....

Compassion and understanding that your children don't grasp the entirety of the move in an instant. Understanding yourself and your capacity for change is the key to protecting you against unhappy and unhealthy consequences. Understanding how the complexity of the move could alter behaviors and relationship dynamics.

Hope...that no matter how many times you tell your children that we live in a shared space now with people above and below us...they will one day cease to run through the house at 10 in the evening.

Communication....Believe it or not, it is perfectly possible to communicate without a common language. In fact, you can make friends with people even if you only speak a few words of their language or vice versa.

Tickle time......yes kids need tickling and lots of it. A little wrestling never hurts either.

Faith....finding a good church will help us find others who share the same values, morals, and ground us in the community of faith.

Open mindedness...you will quickly learn that you have a bigger capacity to be open to new things than you imagined.

Being thankful.... for what we have and not wanting for more.

Family....