Gratitude Friday...

Well.  We've been busy.  

Sometimes.

You know how you reach that point in packing when everything is mass chaos?  And you still feel like there are a zillion boxes to pack?  But you also feel like you've packed everything you own?  

Yeah.

We are at THAT point.

The house and garage are full of boxes.  The furniture is still sitting in it's normal spot.  But all we have left are the clothes we will pack in our suitcases, the toys (we've packed very few of those but then again, we have maybe three boxes worth in total), our pantry items and the garage.  

That sounds like ALL THE THINGS.

But we've got a full Pod already packed and a garage full of boxes.  

Because this.

And y'all, that's not even all of them.  I already packed up a good many.  

Gosh.  I can't imagine why God feels like I might just need to take a good, hard look at my STUFF.  It's just beyond me.

In all this cleaning out and downsizing, we have been giving away some stuff and selling other stuff.  There's a free trading group on FB.  I've posted several things there while we've been here.  One sweet lady took a huge bag of clothes about a year ago.  Recently, she got some of Rhys' crib sheets.  She was so appreciative and I was grateful to be able to pass along.  Friends have been so generous to us, it's only right to pass it along.

This week, I contacted her to see if she wanted to take a peak at what I had to give away.  Toys, books, stuffed animals, clothes and shoes.  As I was laying everything out on the dining room table for her to shuffle through, the kids discovered the toys.  Toys they had long ago stopped playing with.  Forgotten about.  Grown too big for.  

But of course, they see them and they are NEW.

Rhys took a school bus.  It had different shapes and slots for those shapes to fit in to.  Both of my kids played with that bus like crazy.  Until they mastered it.  And moved on.

I told Rhys, "Little Man, a sweet friend is coming to get that very bus for her little boy to play with.  So when I ask you to give it back so she can take it home, you need to give it back.  Okay?"

Rhys, "Okay!"

And y'all, when the lady came to the door, Rhys immediately ran to collect all the pieces to bus and brought it straight to her.

"Here you go!"

Heart.  Melted.

The kids have just been handling this entire thing like rock stars.  Giving away their toys.  Deciding which coloring books are too filled up and which ones still have plenty of pages to create on.  Watching all their room decor come down.  Not unpacking boxes as fast as I can pack them.  (AK did that well last time)  

Overall, they have simply been amazing.

Often, when I start to feel a little scared about the move.  Are we doing the right thing?  Can we give up so much?  What if we make these changes and, well, not much changes but our address?  

(Can we just skip the Sunday School answer here?  Because y'all know I pray through those fears.  And y'all know I am CONFIDENT of where we are and the path we've been led down.)

But what does help calm my anxieties is looking at these precious faces.  They don't care one bit how big our house is.  They haven't complained ONCE, not once, about cleaning out their stuff.  Instead, they've been excited and happy to help.  Looking forward to the possibility of meeting new friends.  Finding new parks for us to play.  

They remind me change isn't bad.  It's freeing.  To be able to add to our life!  Add more people.  Add more places.  Add more experiences.  And hopefully, add to God's kingdom.  

Oh, how our Father loves these little people.  I am grateful He loaned them to us.  And grateful He's teaching me through them.