by Jennifer McDonald

I’ve been contemplating my belongings, in hopes of determining what I could possibly need to live on for the next few months. You see, we are moving from one overseas location to another, and we know that we will be in temporary housing for several months, so whatever I pack in my suitcases will be all I have with me for some time.

We’ve lived out of our suitcases before; that’s a given with military moves. The longest span without our household goods was nearly five months, when we moved from Guam back to the U.S.  We were waiting ‘a few weeks’ for the new base housing to be completed while we lived in temporary lodging…which took much longer than a few weeks! I discovered, though, that we need much less to live on than we usually think. I’m trying to remember that right now, as I consider my two suitcases. One article written by a travel expert said to pack 3 bottoms, 4-7 tops, 2 pairs of shoes, and toiletries, whether  the trip is for 1 week or 6 months (the idea being you have access to a laundry, of course!). That was probably not written by a woman, and I’m not sure I can go quite that minimalist, but I am keeping it in mind. Since we are moving to Hawaii this time, I’ll add a bathing suit and flip-flops to the list.

As far as household items go, I tend to also overestimate the amount of ‘stuff’ I need for daily life—stuff that ends up hindering, rather than helping. One unforeseen benefit that has coming from moving so often is that I’ve had to learn to deny my natural hoarding tendencies. The items we end up moving from household to household (and we’ve had 5 ‘households’ in the past five years alone), along with the necessities of daily life, are things that I truly value. What is on your list of priceless items? Family antiques, handwritten treasures from my children, photo-filled scrapbooks, an album made by my grandmother’s hands, gifts that Steve has brought from his travels, and unique things collected from the Pacific to Europe make my list. Each item has some meaning attached to it, some known only to our family.

Easier to leave behind are what one would consider junk…things that are easily replaced or that are used up, worn, and should be thrown out altogether.  They don’t make my life easier, and it doesn’t bring me happiness to look at them or have them around. They are things that hinder, rather than help.

Which led me to consider…how much “junk”, spiritually speaking, do I insist on dragging around? What are the useless items that I waste precious time on…pulling them out, cleaning them off, reorganizing them into similar piles, folding them carefully and placing them back in their special spot in my soul? Things that don’t warrant such consideration or time–regrets, bitterness, preconceived notions, wrong judgments. Things that only hinder, never help.

How much lighter would that load be if I took that junk to the dump and left it there? To leave those burdens with the Lord, and let Him deal with it? How much better to replace that old baggage with forgiveness, sympathy, understanding, and a willingness to forget?

“….let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb. 12:1)

I’m thinking one can learn a lot from moving.

About the Author:
I’ve been a military wife for 22 years to my Air Force husband, Steve.  We have been blessed with four children, and our oldest just left for his first year of college. Steve recently returned from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan, his third deployment to the Middle East.  As a long-time military wife, I have a heart to encourage other military spouses, especially those going through deployment.  Articles and essays of mine have been published in various newsletters and e-newsletters, The Old Schoolhouse magazine, Above Rubies, A Mother’s Heart, and the Rosetta Stone company. My blog is at http://www.afjen.blogspot.com/