Little Treasures

Lately, we've been ruthlessly paring down our belongings (again). When one moves as often and as far as we do, there are few items that actually stay around from move to move. It's been said that three moves are as good as a fire...so I wonder what 11+ moves are equal to?! What was a must in one home, is not so important in another (I can't really imagine that our heavy wool blankets would be very useful in Indonesia's hot climate but in wintertime they are a necessity here!). We really do try hard not to place too much meaning on objects - we know we can't take them with us when we die...and possibly we won't be able to take them with us when we move next!

Some things have stuck around because of their usefulness - things like my KitchenAid mixer or the ratty towels we still have that were wedding gifts almost 10 years and five countries ago (they work, even if they aren't pretty). Some items are so special to us that they won't be coming with us to Indonesia - things like photo albums and baby books and special spears and blowguns from Ecuador that we couldn't bear to lose. Some items are special and hold meaning and make us feel more at home and will most definitely find their way into our shipment of household goods - knick-knacks from our travels, paintings we love and want to hang on our walls, toys that the girls just need to have when we finally settle down again.

And some items are more than special to me - they keep me grounded, remind me that I'm loved, encourage me when I'm feeling down, and help make the transitions a little easier. These are things that stay with me - they sit in my room right now and travel in my luggage and are lovingly placed in a prominent place in every location we spend more than a week in.

This sweet little sleepy birdie was a gift from my sister this past weekend...I gave her one too and she bought a bigger one for our mom so that we could all look at our own bird, knowing the other two are looking at theirs, wherever we may be living at the time! I'm so glad to have this special momento to carry with me to Indonesia...and it goes perfectly with my Home Sweet Home sign that Mom gave me years ago when we lived in Costa Rica. That sign is the first thing to go up in each new house we move into and helps me remember to enjoy each new "home" we may find ourselves in - when that sign is up I know that I must choose to make our new house my home. These two treasures now sit on the dresser in our temporary bedroom here at my folk's house and will travel with me in my suitcase as we move on to an MAF apartment, language school, and whatever house(s) we find ourselves in after that!