Goodbye Loveseat

Yesterday we sold our loveseat on Craigslist.  It was the first of (hopefully) many sales to come of our furniture & other stuff since we are moving out of our place at the end of the month and only planning to take 7 suitcases worth of stuff with us to Brunei.

We had a garage sale earlier this summer and sold a fair amount of stuff, but most of it was items of minor importance or things I was already intending to get rid of.  So I didn't think much of it emotionally, and was happy to make some money selling stuff we didn't really want anymore.

This couch felt like a much bigger deal to me.  I didn't realize it at first.  I was super excited to make our first sale and I was especially stoked that we sold the loveseat for only $50 less than we paid for it new two years ago!!!!

But then after the people came to pick it up, I sat down in the empty space where it once sat in our living room and suddenly a flood of memories and emotions overcame me.

I squeezed onto that loveseat with one or two other people during countless nights with our small group, soaking in the goodness of friendship, fellowship, and God's truth.

(Photos by Jake McLaughlin)

 I took photos of James when he was two months old on that loveseat and discovered for the first time he was happy and smiley in a diaper.

I sat and nursed my little guy for countless hours on that loveseat.  And when he got old enough to stand up against something James loved the view out the front window from his perch atop the loveseat.

And I fell more in love with my husband everyday as we sat and talked together on that loveseat.  (Yes, that was a very cheesy play on words, but a true statement.)      

(Photo by Alex Hinders, Everlasting Love Photography)

This coming life change is exciting and new and I am really thankful God is leading us on this adventure.  I'm also actually somewhat excited to pare down what we own as a byproduct of the move and simplify in that way.

At the same time, I am filled with nostalgia & some sadness, but mostly thankfulness as I begin saying goodbyes to people I love dearly and places and things with which I have so many good memories.

Having grown up living in one house my whole childhood (and my parents still live there) moving and all the change associated with it is a very new experience for me.  But it is so good for me.  It's growing me, making me realize how blessed I am and have been, and pressing me deeper into the heart of God as He leads our family to a new place.  I am at peace and wait joyfully and expectantly for what is to come in Him.  All the while giving thanks for the good things He has blessed us with during the last 2 years of our life here.  Loveseat included.