Moving! It takes a Village!

Moving!  It takes a Village!

Call these times crazy, call me crazy, but what I know is that --

In these times when decisions come at me hot and heavy, and the gray matter leaves with the same intensity, I NEED THE PEOPLE AROUND ME!

Once again in my current life challenge, I am aware that IT TAKES A VILLAGE!  To wit:  my adult son Tony is moving in with us this weekend.  Life has thrown him a curve ball or two in the past year, and we all bit the bullet, took a deep breath, and said "We can do this!"

Everyone who moves knows in their BONES the agony of sorting, boxing, selling, lifting, breaking, tired beyond reason, and while I have not had to go through all of that -- I've faced the spatial dynamics of moving, squeezing, bloodletting stuff, and waving down strangers in the street to make a home for all of my house plants, saying good-bye to china I never use, and

downsized again in the house 1/3 the size of the house we moved out of when we downsized the first time.  REALLY?

Because -- WHERE DID I GET ALL OF THIS STUFF? And, someone is moving in here?
My God in heaven!  Help!

After sweat, blood and tears, albeit with much prayer, today, I look at my now empty office--- 18 shelves cleaned out, files, oh dear God in heaven help me sweet Jesus!, 13 years of Mary Kay inventory relocated, desks, journals, stacks of paper of my half-finished novel, 137 pens, two boxes of envelopes left over from the depression, three boxes of stationery begging for one of those pens to hit the paper, and not a few tears.

My sweet friends are praying, really praying because they know me, they know Tony, they know Brian, and they know this will be a new journey for all of us.

My dear neighbors are rooting for us, because in one way or another, they've been through this journey, and another is storing the treasures ready to go somewhere else in his garage.  It takes a village.

My cat and dog are nervously eyeing the piles of boxes, and desks, and computer monitors suddenly appearing in the dining room -- home of my new office. 

Well, no more dinner parties for awhile.  But another team of dear ones are the event planners anyway -- threw a birthday party for me last summer to end all birthday parties.  In short, not my strong suit, but I am blessed by theirs.  It takes a village.

I strode into the room just emptied -  I said a prayer, cried a few tears at the life lived in that room, at the gifts the Lord had given me in that space, took a deep breath, and smiled.

Register me ready.  For the journey ahead.  For more life to be lived.  For more lessons to be learned.  Yes, Yes, the process of sifting, shifting, is moving to stabilizing --

the next season of our lives.  Thank you Lord.  Thank you.