The Rest of Our Stuff

As Americans, we are very attached to our "stuff."  So deciding what to bring to Ghana and what we could do without was a big process.  Then after we gathered all the "stuff" we thought we could NOT live without, we had to make sure it fit within the luggage limits for Delta Airlines.  So 2 days before we left Winona, our "won't fit in the luggage" pile was growing as was our fear of leaving behind our comforts.  Then, unfortunately, the luggage limits on the Ghanaian airline was much smaller and they had chosen a "small" plane for our flight.  To get all our "stuff" to our new home we would have to pay a lot of over-weight fees.  (That's assuming it would all fit on the small plane -- yea, you have so much stuff the plane can't take off!).  We found out that a truck would be coming from Nalerigu to Accra and we could send some of our "less important stuff" by ground, it just wouldn't arrive when we did.  That sounded better than paying a lot of overage fees for the luggage.  So at about 10 pm that night, after having flown all night the night before, we were going through all our boxes to determine what we "needed" and what could wait.  We were thinking, "What do we leave behind?  We already have the 'bare necessities' as it is!"  Eventually, we had made our appropriate edits and had a "go with us" pile and a "come to us later" pile.

One MONTH later, after much anticipation, the rest of our "stuff" arrived --

Here are the kids with our newly arrived boxes.  Evan was particularly excited because when we were in Accra choosing which boxes would stay and which would go, we forgot that we had layered Evan's underwear under the keyboard inside the keyboard case.  We had been so proud when we were packing in Winona and realized there was space under the keyboard.  Our strategic packing skills led us to tuck all but 3 pair of his underwear safely in the "secret compartment" below the keyboard.  If you notice in the picture -- the big black and silver case Evan has is the keyboard case . . . . you can fill in all the missing details!

After having lived a month without all the "stuff" in the boxes, I think we were a little surprised when we opened them and realized we had been doing just as well without a lot of the things.  

Have you ever thought about all the things you use on a daily basis?  Have you ever thought about what all you COULD live without?  Take a few minutes and ponder on the difference between "need" and "want."  It's not as easy as you might think.  

God ALWAYS provides for our needs OR teaches us that we do not need it.  Thank you, LORD, for being our provider!

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