I am very good at packing. While I have some degrees and certificates, I think I must be better at packing than anything else. I know how to pack for an overnight trip or a move across towns, countries, and continents. I know what boxes work best in which scenario. There’s no confusion about which tape to use and how to pack fragile items. The more I pack, the fewer moving casualties I have. But they still happen. Moving and traveling is not for the faint of heart.
My first time packing
My first big move overseas was in 1987. I packed a big black trunk before leaving for Palm Beach International Airport. Back then, suitcases were allowed to weigh up to 70 pounds. Also, passengers carried two cases per ticket before paying overweight on anything. As our family grew, that large allowance for luggage was nice. Until one day it wasn’t when policies changed. We were still allowed to carry two bags. But instead of 70 pounds each, the new allowance was only 50 pounds per suitcase. That change kept me from hoarding ridiculous amounts of peanut butter in my luggage. I used the excuse that the kids loved the peanut butter. (I was guilty of having many midnight peanut butter spoons.) The new weight restrictions also forced me to pack more of what we needed, not just what I wanted.
The trunk was loaded onto the scale on that first trip to the airport in 1987. My husband Jamie remarked that it felt “too heavy.” It was overweight, and I felt guilty for causing a fuss. We had to figure out how to reduce the weight to what was allowed.
Since then, we’ve gotten wiser. We now carry a hand-held scale to weigh our luggage before going to the airport. Thankfully, at that time, we were traveling with a team of people. Things were shifted quickly into the suitcases of others with room to spare. Then, we embarked on a lifetime of packing.
Lessons started at the airport
When we arrived, I unpacked the trunk and our suitcases in what was to be our home. I hadn’t packed any nick-nacks, tablecloths, or decorative wall hangings. The house was bare, and I struggled to make it a home. What appeared to be much when packing and traveling was not much at all!
The trunk then began serving as a toy box. Every day when we opened it for playtime, my thoughts sent me back to the day at the airport. That first year was full of lessons that started at the airport. Lessons about what was important and what wasn’t. In time, the toys it carried on that first trip began to break. Bit by bit, items that were so “needed” when we moved found their way to the trash bin. They were no longer usable.
I’m very good at packing but not at lifting
The baggage we carry in life can be just as heavy as that big black trunk. I have a weakness for rearranging rooms. So, whenever I moved the trunk to rearrange its room, I would first fill it to make moving things around easier. The idea was good, but practically, it was a disaster. The weight was too much for me. I would inevitably hit my shins or scratch the walls in my attempt to reorganize. My idea could have worked well if I were stronger. I’m very good at packing but not at lifting. In multicolor bruised fashion, my legs often told tales of my moving escapades. I was too impatient to wait for Jamie to do the heavy lifting.
One day, when my “move stuff around in the house” mood hit, it dawned on the horizon of my cluttered brain that I could avoid the pain of bruising my shins if I would just unload the trunk first. As I removed things from the trunk, I found broken items that needed to be thrown away. All they did was create unnecessary clutter.
Full of things we don’t need any longer
Our hearts are like that old trunk. They are often full of things we don’t need anymore, and broken pieces of life clutter their spaces. When we allow our hearts to become cluttered with brokenness, we will likely end up hurt and bruised, as many of us are today.
“A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench…”
Isaiah 42:3 NKVJ
Trends in decluttering
I have read about recent trends in decluttering. Some people are experts at it. I think I could be one of those experts. My family has to watch out for me when my moods for rearranging and decluttering hit. Here’s a story about my decluttering method that will help you understand better.
My most famous cleaning story happened when Jamie and I were newlyweds. There was a pile of unopened mail on the kitchen counter, and I had to clean the counter. Yes, I (accidentally) threw away our new credit cards in that purge. Jamie was the hero that day, going dumpster diving and finding the cards. I’ll never forget that mistake.
When I clean the house, everyone scatters to hide their important things. I might throw them away if they appear to me as useless clutter.
God is much more mindful than I am when He works with us as a master decluttering professional. The things we hold onto in the hidden recesses of our hearts that broke us only work against, not for, us. When we gather the courage to open the trunk of our hearts and pour out the contents, God will help us discard the broken pieces.
I’m very good at living lean
I recently had to move another trunk. This time, the trunk wasn’t a mass-produced conveyor belt item. My husband bought a wooden trunk for me in Malawi many years ago. He got it for me because I had to give up a similar trunk in a previous move. I was eager to see it when it arrived at my house. Inside, I had packed some fragile family Christmas ornaments, including a small hand-carved nativity set from Malawi. While the monetary value of the trunk and its contents wasn’t much, it was (and is) special. I’ve learned to “live lean” in the many years we’ve moved around Africa. I can do without many creature comforts, but there are a few special things I drag around. I am very grateful that God made a way to get those items to us.
Together with the trunk, we shipped a wooden rocking chair that has traveled around the world with me. I had it made when our daughter was born in 1990. It’s simple and beautiful, but I wondered if it could withstand another flight in an airplane’s cargo hold. I’ve found that no matter how many “fragile” signs you put on a box, no one pays attention.
A big sigh of relief and a crack
The trunk and rocking chair arrived with some other boxes the other day. As the truck was pulling into the driveway, my first concern was the rocking chair. The box containing the chair was oddly shaped and easy to spot among the mass of other boxes surrounding it. My heart beat a bit faster. I remembered it being delivered to our house in Zaire (now the DRC) just in time for me to rock our newborn to sleep. I had no money to add cushions to its wooden frame, so I just cushioned it with extra pillows. That chair holds many memories.
I breathed a big sigh of relief when the box holding the chair was opened. It appeared to have made the trip without a scratch. All the original screws were there, and it was put back together in minutes.
We then found the cardboard-wrapped trunk and gently removed its covering. I quickly noticed a large crack in one of the corners. It looked like it had been dropped at some point during the trip. Before moving it to its spot, I knew I had to empty it first. The added weight of the items in the box could have caused it to break further when moving it. Emptying it also made it easier to repair.
Fixing the brokenness
When life drops us and cracks, bruises, or breaks us, we have to be careful not to allow the broken contents of our hearts to create clutter inside us. Fixing the brokenness begins with emptying ourselves of the broken pieces so the repairman can move easily. He may have to use a clamp, glue, and pressure to repair the damage. But when the process is done, we will be ready to carry precious cargo to those waiting to receive them.
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair…”
2 Corinthians 4:6-8 NKJV
If I don’t make it in missions, I might get a job with a moving company. I have lots of experience and am very good at packing.
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