The community we leave behind

When we first moved to our town I found it cute and charming...then confining. Having grown up in a city I was frustrated to have to drive 30 miles to get to the things I was used to. I remember when I was pregnant with my first child- there were not maternity clothes to be found in town! And when I was out and about in town everyone else seemed to know each other, but not me. I just felt out of place and unwanted.

But now it has been 8 years and all four of our children are "natives". It was through them that we finally got to know people and started to feel like we fit in. I didn't realize how comfortable and familiar this town had become until we decided to leave it. Today was a good example: my oldest boy, Liam, had his last dental appointment before we move. We made arrangements to keep in touch with our hygienist because, after all, she's known the kids since before they were born.

And the children's school. The school (Agathos Classical School) is probably the one thing that we are going to miss the most. It truly is a unique school where the students, parents, faculty, and staff are a family. Many schools like to think of themselves as a family, but Agathos really is. We had to take the kids out of school a couple of weeks ago because we're traveling around the country visiting family and friends before we leave, and each class threw a party for our children. They sent them off with cards, little gifts, gift cards to make our travels easier, and money to help us along our way. The kids don't fully understand everything that is going on, but I hope some day they can look back on those cards and see how much they are loved. And I'm so thankful for this modern era when we don't have to lose touch with people when we move. Skype, email, Facebook, blogs, and good old fashioned mail.

These next couple of weeks we'll be making a lot of decisions about what to take and what to leave behind and I'm so glad there's one thing we definitely won't have to leave behind: our friendships.

What to pack, what to pack...

With less than two months to go it's time to get real about deciding what to keep and what to give away. The cost of shipping our things is extremely high so we're having to decide if the cost of shipping everything is more than the cost of buying new stuff on the other side. At the moment I'm inclined to think that we should still ship things, but later today I plan on really breaking it down and thinking about the monetary value of it all (dishes, towels, sheets, furniture, toys, books, etc.). If it's close to the shipping cost then I think the emotional value to the children of having their own things will tip the scales.

In the meantime, there are many things to give away and get rid of. We had one yard sale in the fall and it did bring a lot of money, but we feel that if there is someone who needs our things then we'd rather just give them away- especially if those people are our brethren. After all, we're all in this together, right?

The Beginning

It was a Tuesday night in July 2011 and we were about to put the children in bed. My husband was walking toward the boys' room and glanced at an email on his blackberry. Then he stopped. He stood there in the middle of the living room, blackberry in hand. It may sound dramatic or cliche, but in that moment I knew something big had happened. After a few seconds he finally said,

"I just got an email from Paul Williams."

"And..."

"He wants us to move to South Africa."

It was one of those rare moments in life when you feel like you are living in history- your own history. Though we talked and prayed about it before making an official decision, in that moment I already knew. I knew that I'd look back and recount the tale of "the email" to others. I knew we couldn't just ignore that email and go on living our lives. Really, there was no decision for us to make- it was already made. The real question was not if, but how we were going to do it.