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.