From Pretend to Reality

Growing up, I played a little differently than I would say most little girls play.  Yes, I did play kitchen, house, barbie, and mommy a little.  But what I most remember playing was school (where I of course was the teacher, and when I would get mad at my older brother, I would give him all F's! I'll let you guess which brother;)  Haha!), secretary, and another game that I'm pretty sure most little girls didn't.  I would climb underneath the dining room table in our front room and pretend that I could only bring that which was completely necessary to survive (you know, pillow, blanket, and my Kid Sister doll ;) because well I was in the middle of no where and had to survive on my own! Every once in awhile I would have to venture out to pick some plastic apples from a "tree" or something.  But mostly I loved the idea of living in this really small space with room only for the things that are necessary!  Weird, I know, but I seriously loved this game!

For some reason God has brought this memory to my mind lately!  Hmm... I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we are in the midst of selling/getting rid of pretty much all our earthly possessions and moving to the other side of the world?!  As a child, teenager, and even in my early 20's I never would have thought that God would have me go into ministry overseas, but as I look back, I really feel like He was preparing me from the very beginning, long before I ever could have dreamed what He would ask me to do.  His ways are higher than Our's!

So, I secretly (well, I guess not so secretly now...) am really enjoying getting rid of all this junk.  Yep I said it JUNK!  I'm pretty sure I don't really need 10 empty picture frames and we sure aren't going to ship our couches to Thailand!  It feels so cleansing!  I really do love thinking about what are the special things we are going to bring with us, you know, like if you could only pick 10 books what would they be?  

And while there are things that we are keeping in the attics of family AND there are some things that have sentimental value that are hard to give up, this verse keeps running through my head:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures here on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Oh Lord, may I never forget that my life is not about earthly things, but eternal ones!  

And just for fun... here's a picture of my boys playing in a "tent." Maybe God is preparing them for what's to come too!