Cleaning & Packing

I am getting things ready to go.  It's a hectic process to pack up life while working and living in the house you still need to pack.  It's a busy last few weeks, and I have hardly any time to get my things together.  This past weekend was the first real break I had in 26 days.  And it was an amazing 3-day weekend before my last 2 weeks here.

7/17 - Nakachanbetsu Elementary & Junior High.  Basketball practice.  Softball practice.  Dinner with a teacher friend.
7/18 - Nakaosobetsu Elementary.  Basketball practice.
7/19 - Preschool.  Last English conversation class.
7/20 - Office day.  Board of Education goodbye party.
7/21 - Nakachanbetsu goodbye party.
7/22 - Cleaning day.
7/23 - Office day.  Basketball practice.
7/24 - Touro Elementary & Junior High.  Softball practice.
7/25 - Office day.  Basketball practice.
7/26 - PACK & CLEAN & SHIP MY STUFF. English conversation class goodbye party.
7/27-29 - All-Prefecture softball tournament.
7/30 - Clean house.
7/31-8/1 - Go pick up my replacement & bring him back to Shibecha


So I have about 2 days to pack and clean.  I've been slowly making progress packing away souvenirs I've collected, books I've finished reading, and DVDs I never got a chance to watch.  I've also start throwing away stuff in an attempt to clean.  Old newspapers from home, an ESPN magazine, old calendars, and socks with holes in them.

There are things, intangibles, I have to decide to take home with me or throw them away.  I decided to keep a few things--friendships, appreciation for nature, wifey skills, sense of responsibility, thankfulness.  I know I need to throw some things away, some things I can't and shouldn't take back with me to LA--regret, bitterness, fear of what's next.

Last night was my Sabbath, and while it was a holiday, I came home after a day in town shopping and lay on the floor.  I lay on the floor and, instead of packing and cleaning, I lay there quietly.  As if somehow when I opened my eyes, my bags would be packed and my house would be spotless.

Have 2 years really gone by that quickly? 

I remember crying every night for the 2 weeks prior to my departure from LA.  So afraid of the unknown, the wild adventures ahead.  I arrived in the most peaceful and beautiful place I have ever seen filled with the kindest people I have ever met.  Every day has been an adventure--from teaching preschool to coaching basketball to fishing in the river to shoveling the office driveway to my car breaking down.  Every day God has gone before me.  Every day God has walked me home.

And in 18 days, I'll leave this beautiful little dairy farming village I've fallen in love with and called home.  In 25 days, I'll be back in LA surrounded by family and English-speaking friends.  I'll walk by faith with my belongings and life lessons through customs at LAX.  I have to trust God will go before me on the adventure that lies ahead.  I have to trust God will walk me home.