Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships
The largest NGO hospital ship in the world providing free medical care to the forgotten poor

Sunday, February 15, 2015

A Clean Closet and a Coincidental Quarter

My preparations for moving overseas continue.  I finally told my principal this week that I will be leaving at the end of the school year.  It was a hard conversation because one of the biggest challenges my school faces is retaining teachers long term.  So even though I think teaching on Mercy Ships is the right thing for me in this next season, leaving will be difficult and bittersweet.

I want to be 100% present at school for the rest of the year; I also have a huge to-do list begging for my time and attention. So my goal is to knock one thing off my list every weekend.

Here a partial look at my To Do list...
  • Get a new passport 
  • Create a blog
  • Sort through my belongings and decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
  • Choose health insurance
  • Have a garage sale
  • Go to the dentist
  • Figure out what to pack and what not to pack
  • Raise some money
  • Start to learn French/Malagasey
  • Read Foreign To Familiar and Old Testament Template (assigned pre-reading)
  • Get required vaccinations and malaria medicine
  • Sell my house
  • Sell my car
So as you can see I've already accomplished the first 2 things on my list! This weekend I started on the third and tackled my closet.  Even though I love to organize and declutter, I am somewhat of a packrat.  Which mostly means I have shoeboxes full of letters and cards from my entire life.  Because all the letters and cards remind me of meaningful relationships, I find it hard to throw them out.  

But I think you will share my delight in what I found.  A homemade card from my childhood best friend, Nicole, with a quarter still taped inside with the following note:




The card is over 20 years old (1993) and I don't remember the story behind it or why I never spent the quarter.  But I hope Nicole will be happy to know I am finally spending it on its intended purpose.  








3 comments:

  1. Yay for to do lists! And letters and cards! I understand, believe me. Will be glad to help with whatever you need in the coming months. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I AM happy to hear this quarter will be spent on its intended 1993 purpose. The story behind it elludes me, too, but I must have seen it in your eyes. ;-) Best wishes, Wendy!

    ReplyDelete