We just finished our first garage sale. What makes a garage sale successful? The money you earn or the accomplishment of getting rid of all your "stuff"? For us we weren't too concerned on making money, we mainly just wanted to pass on all of the stuff we aren't going to take with us to the Philippines.
Not knowing too much about how to host a garage sale, we called on our friends and family who did. God graciously worked through the service of others and it came together quite nicely! My SMIL (Sister's Mother in Law) graciously allowed us to use her driveway and yard for the garage sale. My sister and her "garage saling buddy" helped price items and give logistic tips. And my SSIL (sister's sister in law) helped set up, break down and took care of all of the advertisement. Here is a picture of my sister and her family posing with her sister in law (my SSIL) and her family.
The early bird gets the worm
We set up early at 6am. There was lots of stuff, some donated by others. And the people came bright and early.
Several people drove their pick up trucks, and you can tell they were professional garage salers by their vehicle.
No brainers
Some items were no brainers and were obvious that we wouldn't need them in the Philippines. Items such as this
Or these
Memories Triggered
Then there were items that triggered memories - like this humidifier. This humidifier was the culprit of sending my oldest son to the ER. It was lined with mold and was spewing mold spores into the air each night. After several days of its usage my son woke up with his eyes swollen shut, and we learned the hard way he is allergic to mold. Needless to say it was easy to get rid of this.
Another memory came from this white hat. Something I always joked my friends about before I got married was how I always wanted to go on a "hat outting", which in my mind consisted of going out on the town with my close friends where we all wear hats. For my bachelorette party my friends planned a hat outting and this was the hat I wore.
Everyone has the one favorite article of clothing that is beat up, stained and worn out, but they keep it because they love it always. These shorts were one of my favorites. I wore these several years in high school for soccer practice. Then again later when I moved out of the house and lived in an apartment with some friends. And many nights at home when I just want to relax and veg.
Going through my stuff and getting ready for the garage sale revealed to me things I tend to collect. And something I like to collect are bags. Here are two bags that hold memories. The maroon backpack is what Allan wore on our honeymoon to New York City. He was wearing it when we got caught in the rain walking across the Manhattan bridge. The weaved tan purse was the purse Allan brought back from the Philippines for me when we were dating.
These two dresses brought fun memories. The blue one I wore in my sister's wedding, and the red one my sister wore in my wedding. Ahhhh!! :)
Things that make you go "huh?"
Another category of items in the sale were just plain weird. We had a whole box of door knobs donated. Makes you wonder where they came from. Is there a house somewhere without any door knobs now? Or maybe someone was building their own house and bought the wrong size? Either way they don't have any keys.
Anybody guess what this item is used for?
I wonder if that house with the missing door knobs also has some missing doors? We also had two doors for sale. Sold both.
How about this book? If you are curious I flipped through it briefly and "A" stands for Allan.
Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody does their share! The morning went quickly and soon it was time to clean up. When we cleaned up we made sure to put aside the boxes and return them to my dad. If you ever have to buy a file box this is the one you want to get. This box has been around for 25 years and it is still in great shape!
What's a garage sale if you don't buy back some of your own stuff? Remember that funny plastic black lid pictured above? My sister took it! It is actually a top for a trash can. It fits on a trashcan and turns it into a table. My sister and her husband host a group of their friends every summer in Yosemite. Usually 50 plus people. They plan the whole thing and make all the food. She is planning to use this for food prep for their annual trip. Great idea!
Even though we sold a lot we had a lot left over as well. Some of it was taken to Salvation Army and some of it was given to a friend who is having her own garage sale next week.
Good job everyone! Looks great! With the goal of getting rid of our unwanted stuff, I can confidently say our goal was accomplished!
Earlier this week our whole family went to the Philippines Consulate in Los Angeles. We had two basic goals; one to get dual citizenship for Allan and the three boys, and two to get a Visa for me. It was a long day, and not one we'd like to repeat, but in the end our two goals were accomplished. Processing paperwork in any government agency requires patience, understanding and time. But doing so with three young kids intensifies the situation, as you might imagine.
Before the day started I knew I wanted to do a blog post about our experience. But then as the day progressed and it was harder than I expected I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to blog about our day without complaining throughout the whole post. So in an effort to be able to write a blog post without complaining I started taking pictures of anything and everything I could be thankful for. And with those collection of photos I decided I would tell you all about my day in a timeline fashion, in order to highlight God's grace and mercies sprinkled throughout the day.
4:30am
Alarm goes off. I am tired from our full schedule so I turn over and go back to sleep.
6:00am
Allan wakes me up with a kiss, allowing me to sleep in an extra hour and a half from our original wake up time.
7:15am
We leave house with our three boys. Boys sleep on the way down and allow Allan and I to have a rare uninterrupted quiet conversation.
8:30am
We arrive at the Philippines Consulate. We are blessed it only took us 1 hour and 15 minutes because just the previous week my brother in law drove the exact route during rush hour traffic and it took him 2 1/2 hours.
Our drive down was lined with palm trees, which I thought was a fun symbol of irony since we would soon be living on a island full of palm trees.
The trees lining the parking lot were "purple trees". I love purple trees! They lined the street where Allan and I first lived after getting married. They brought back sweet memories and I was so happy to get to see them again.
9:00am
Consulate office opens and we go inside and proceed to the fifth floor.
9:00am to 11:00am
Allan stands in several lines and goes back and forth between various windows to try and get our paperwork processed. While I watch the three boys in the waiting room area of the room.
We had a large zipped binder full of all of our most important paperwork. We we blessed that we didn't loose a single item! One of the required documents in our binder was Allan's naturalization papers when he became a US citizen. Here is his picture from that document, isn't he cute? :)
Also sometime during this time I get overwhelmed as my inability to watch the three boys in the waiting room and follow all of the rules the security guard instructed me and watch all of our stuff. I then take the boys to the lobby and cry in the corner. During which time I quickly send out a prayer request to a group of ladies asking for prayer. The boys wonder why I am crying and shower me with kisses and say "it's okay mommy".
11am to Noon
We have to wait until noon for the next step so we go downstairs to find food while we wait. The boys get to run around outside without getting scolded. They even make friends with three other boys, who were at the consulate getting passports. Look closely at the picture below and try to think like a little boy, what do you see in the planters? A maze of run ways! They spent the lunch break running through the maze.
Trevor's pants is perfect evidence of the fun he had.
We have a delicious meal at the food truck park right outside the building near the boys' run ways. I had tocilog, a Filipino dish consisting of pork, garlic fried rice, and a fried egg. It was the best I have ever had, which I guess isn't too impressive since I am American. But even Allan made the same comment, which his comment holds more weight since he's Filipino! It was sarap!
Noon
We go back upstairs and Allan takes and oath and officially reacquires his citizenship. Now he is a dual citizen. I wasn't able to get a picture because they had triple as many people as they normally do. Typically they have about 10 people taking the oath, but that day they had 29 and didn't have any space in the room for pictures.
Noon to 1pm
Consulate closes for lunch, so we go down to the parking lot to rest, eat the rest of our tocilog and nurse Noah. It was a blessing we were borrowing Allan's uncle's car, because it is much roomier than ours, which allowed us to easier change dirty diapers in the back and also let the boys stretch out.
I finally get to sit and rest. The windows were rolled down, we were parked in the shade and there was a gentle breeze rustling the beautiful purple trees! I took a short video to help capture the mood. (Cue Music - Michael Buble "Feeling Good" Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel....and I'm feeling good!)
1pm to 3pm
We go back upstairs and realize we are missing paperwork. A wonderfully sweet Filipino lady helps us sort through our paperwork. She fills in what is missing. All the while Trevor plays on her desk and she never scolds him or even insinuates he is a bother in any way. Instead she offers him candy. She even moved her desk just so we could rescue a matchbox car that rolled underneth. I was thankful she had experience with little kids at her desk, cause see all those items on the edge? Easily knocked off by a toddler's little hands, right? Especially when he was using them as tunnels for his matchbox car. But nope, not this time cause she glued everything down on her desk! ha ha.... I was so happy he could play and not knock anything off.
3pm to 4:30pm
We finished another step in the process and had to wait another 1 1/2 hours for the next step. By this time the boys were exhausted. We went back down to the car and called in reinforcements. My dad meet up with us and took the three tired boys home. I was able to get back to the consulate in time to finish up my paperwork. The consulate let Allan start the process in my absence, which was very kind.
5pm to 7pm
With only me and Allan left, we finished our paperwork just before they closed. With the boys gone we took advantage and had an impromtu date! We walked across the street and had Korean Food at Tofu House.
This was one of the first times Allan had Korean food without a Korean present, so we were thankful for the "how to" video being shown on the wall as to how to eat the food.
Even the drive home from Los Angeles during rush hour traffic was soo soo relaxing. Just the two of us.
AND.... through the morning tears and the hours and hours of waiting my makeup didn't come off! It still looked great! ha ha.... which was fun to see since it is a new makeup I got to help endure the humid weather of the Philippines. If that makeup can withstand a day at the consulate, it will do just fine in the Philippines.
For the five years that our family has been in the support raising mode, I have never really felt like a missionary. For the most part we lived a pretty average Southern Californian life style. Allan had a full time job, in which he commuted to and from, Monday through Friday, leaving bright and early and returning just in time for dinner with the family. While I stayed home with the kids and helped keep the house in order. We had a routine too, woman's bible study mid week and regular play dates with other moms and kids. I even used my "spare time" to try out a new recipe or write a new post on my blog.
But with plane tickets now purchased, our family has entered a new season of life. This season is short and will pass quickly (five more weeks to be exact), but it is a condensed, intense and chaotic time. In a lot of ways I finally "feel" like a missionary. Or at least the expectations of what I always assumed missionary life to be like - characterized by lack of routine in the midst of a full schedule, with flexibility a key ingredient to making it through with a smile on your face. I realize the next five weeks will pass quickly, and soon we will be in yet another season (that of adjusting to life in a new country). But for now here are a few snippets into our life:
Doctor Appointments
Last week our family had 6 different visits to doctors. We got a total of 10 shots. We have had skin pricked, blood drawn, fluids sampled and bones x-rayed. The above picture is the Wellness Mart in Thousand Oaks. One of the things they specialize in is travel vaccines. We have a couple good friends who went there before they went on short and long term trips to Africa. Our whole family went cause they had one vaccine our regular doctor didn't have on hand.
It was set up like a kinkos, where their menu and services are on the wall and you walk up to the counter for a consultation. They said they were trying to mimic an Apple store with their counter tops and fun things to display. Apple sells computers and the Wellness Mart sells medicines for the body - so they had body parts and models on display. The boys had fun with the muscle man in the corner, they called him "the monster" and would run and giggle and hide from it all the while yelling "monster!"
Passports & Visas
A couple of the requirements I was surprised I need in order to apply for a Visa are a medical clearance and a police clearance. The medical clearance requires I have certain tests done and bring in the results. One of those tests was a chest x-ray (pictured above). Another test is better not discussed. Let's just say that 4 straight years of changing diapers didn't prepare me for such a test. :)
Church Visits
The last two weeks we visited two more churches. Allan preached at both of them. The first one was Blessed Hope Christian Church in Pasadena (a mostly Filipino congregation). We have visited this church before, so it was nice to return for another visit before we move. A couple memorable highlights actually occurred after service. One was Jakob jumping from their steps and sumersaulting onto their grass, then doing a snow angel on his back in the dirt. Another was Allan getting attacked by bees from a nest in a nearby tree (ironic and extra funny for me since I am the one afraid of bees - he didn't get stung though, so no worries.) But most memorable was being able to talk with the church members to hear their excitment and own memories of living in the Philippines.
The second church was Grace Alliance Church of Chula Vista. The boys stayed with their cousins when we attended this church - so with just me and Allan attending it felt like we were on a date. That was nice because it meant I was able to sit and listen to Allan preach, which is not always possible when I have to tend to the little ones. I got to sit in the front row too! The building this church meets in actually has four separate churches use their facilities each Sunday. Just another unique insight we get to see when we visit a variety of churches.
Sorting & Packing
With help from my sister's MIL (mother in law) I finally got started on going through our stuff. I actually had good intentions and have had this on my to do list since last fall. I assumed if I got a head start on it back then, then I wouldn't have to rush when crunch time came. But I was overwhelmed and didn't know where to start, so I never did get started on it. Thankfully my sister's MIL is one of those unique individuals who loves to clean and organize. So she has come over a few times to help me get started, with lots of helpful tips on the most logical and efficient way to approach such a daunting task.
We try to only touch each item once. Then we sort them into various piles: garage sale, pack for shipping (via boat which takes a couple months), pack for flying (to take with us when we fly for immediate use when we arrive), pack for storage (to be shipped at a later date). I thought it would be an emotional task, but it feels great to sort through and organize all our stuff. With only bringing the stuff we really need, it simplifies things a lot.
Ordination
In his "spare" time, Allan is preparing for ordination with our home church, Grace Community Church. When Allan came home from his meeting learning the requirements involved in ordination I asked him "so how does it look?" His response, "well basically it is a summary of all of seminary." Ordination involves both interviews by elders and 4 separate oral exams. Those exams are pastoral ministry, bible knowledge, church history, and systematic theology. Each exam is given by separate elders and an hour long. The picture above is just some of Allan's study material. I think the Lightning McQueen with a Hulk bandaide on top of the pile of books gives good insight to Allan's task at hand. Find time to study between three little boys age 4 and under.
Anchoring my thoughts during temptations of anxiety
With no routine being my "new normal" for the next five weeks, it is very tempting to allow my thoughts to wander and find myself anxious. All I have to do is look at my calendar or to do list and compare them to my energy, ability, and understanding. But when I anchor my thoughts in Truth it calms my mind and keeps me steady from the storm of emotions coming at me during this season. Here are just a few of those truths I have been meditating on.
Psalm 103
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children
Psalm 107
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. 21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Psalm 23
6 Surely[only] goodness and mercy[steadfast love] shall follow me [pursue me like a lion] all the days of my life,
Allan and I made the decision to
pursue full time ministry overseas back in 2009.That was B.C., “before children”. Since then our family has
expanded and we have been blessed with three boys.So far our pursuit of ministry in the Philippines has always
been a desire we aimed for, but never a reality.And now, 5 years later, our long journey is finally turning
into a reality and we are starting to make plans to move.
It is funny to see the different
response between Allan and myself.Allan is eager and excited, like a kid who has been told he gets to go
to Disneyland and he can’t sleep over the excitement that awaits him.My response is quite opposite.I guess if I had to summarize in one
word what I feel like it would be “sober”.A common question I receive from others when they hear our
family is going to move overseas is, “how do you feel, are you excited?”No, I cannot honestly describe how I
feel as “excited”.
My feelings are mixed.If I think long enough I can easily
work myself up in anxious thought and tell you various things I am afraid of in
moving overseas.And if I allow
myself I can easily get sorrowful over many things we are leaving behind.For me, I am moving to a foreign
country.Foreign.A place I am not familiar with, to an
unknown land.
My initial response is to try to
control the uncontrollable, to answer the unknown, and to fight my fluctuating
emotions.One way I have done this
is by listing all of my fears and then trying to rationally approach each of them.(I am not going to list my fears here
because I know as a reader you too will also try and approach them rationally
and explain them away.)This helps
to a point, but the thing about fear is that it is often irrational and based
on the imagination and not based on reality.Then it hit me this week what I have been trying to do.I have been trying to form
expectations.
If you have followed my blog for
any period of time you probably quicklysaw a common tendency I have is to worship the idol of control.It has popped up in various areas of my
life; birth plan, adjusting to a newborn, diagnosing food allergies are just a
few I have shared here in previous posts.And moving overseas is no different.In trying to answer the unknown and rationalize my fears I
realize what I am actually trying to do is form expectations.
I like to be in control.In order to be in control I have to be
both all knowing and all wise.And
that is exactly what I have been trying to do with my fluctuating emotions,
gain knowledge and wisdom on how to handle them.I want to know what to expect, because once I know exactly
what to expect then I will be in control.
But God is gracious and
merciful.He is kind and
tenderhearted.Because in the trials of life I don't have to spend my energy
seeking answers and finding out how to control my circumstances...no, instead I
need to spend my energy seeking and drawing near to my God! For in the trials
of life I am in need of endurance and perseverance, not answers.When I draw near and hold fast to my
Lord and God, then He will be faithful to strengthen my faith so that whatever
trials come my way I am anchored in my Savior.
What about
your future makes you anxious? What are the "wants" connected to
those fears? Take heart, there is a way to be released from the captive hold
those unanswered wants have on your heart and mind! Psalm 23:1 says I shall not
want when the Lord is my Shepherd! What comfort! And Hebrews 11:6 promises
rewards for those who draw near and seek the Lord.
To prepare
my mind for victory, so as to not be tossed to and fro in the upcoming move
overseas to so many unknowns, I am making a conscious effort to gird up my mind
with truth (Ephesians 6).Instead
of spending my efforts trying to form expectations for each of my anxieties, I
am going to spend my efforts girding up my belt with Truth, seeking to know my
God better and the inheritance I have in Him!And instead of being tossed to and fro fighting my
fluctuating emotions I am going to rest and anchor my soul in the Savior.
For once my
soul is anchored in my Savior, then I will have a gentle and quiet spirit and
be able to answer with a resounding “YES! I am excited at what awaits me
overseas in the Philippines because I KNOW my God.”
