Only two days, actually 1.5, left and I'm just completely exhausted, stressed and to top it off, ANOTHER box arrived today from California. I am finishing up laundry, did a grocery store run for snacks, meds and other essentials and am now home to try to organize. Not easy, considering I have two children who don't really care to keep anything organized, or clean, or help with anything. If it wasn't almost 100 degrees out I'd send them outside to play!
For past overseas trips, the custom has been to pack a suitcase for yourself, one "team" bag and one carry-on. Typically, well before departure date, they have a "packing party" and fill up all those duffel bags with team items or items for missionaries. The idea? Bring a duffel bag that you can then pack in your suitcase so your ride home is lighter. It's been an awesome idea and has worked well the past two years, even with Cameroonian relatives last year dropping off a couple suitcases AND a huge trunk - that was interesting!! Also, having everything done so when everyone gets here, we check for documents, passports, luggage tags, grab our bags and go. NO TIME FOR PACKING!
This year, either because I'm completely stressed out because I'm actually going this time or because there are huge communication gaps or both!, things are not going so smoothly. For our "packing party" only the leaders showed up. Our team members have consistently been out of town for meetings and because of that not only do I feel overwhelmed at the moment, but I also feel like we aren't very cohesive. We also have oddly assorted multiple size ranged duffel bags unlike anything I've seen in the past. Half of them are nice sizes and we've filled them to the brim. Others are carryon size and the truth is, there is no way we can fit everything in them!
Add to that, we somehow have ended up transporting 4 HUGE boxes of stuff from the California team, the last box arriving JUST TODAY! It is the largest, the heaviest and full of T-shirts, CD's and beach balls. I've filled the very last teeny, tiny duffel bag and still have a huge pile of stuff to pack sitting in the middle of my living room. I'm stressed - can you tell??? I've even considered taking an extra blood pressure pill today! At the very least, we will have a new policy on transporting other people's things AND a deadline for when we need that stuff.
I can tell I'm being stretched. I'm a very task oriented person, meaning I find it nearly impossible to move on to another task until one is complete. Right now, I have about 5 incomplete tasks hanging around, I'm not packed, my house is a complete disaster area and not only do I need to get all this done in 1.5 days, I have to have things looking semi-clean for our housesitter. I'm honestly beside myself, which is why we went to the pool this morning. I needed to get out of here!
Pray for me!
2 comments:
I've always found the more stress pre-trip the better and more impactful the trip. I'll be praying for peace over the next couple days and that airport/layover time can be great team time. Deep breath...it's going to be a great life-changing couple of weeks. I'll be praying for you guys!
Once you are on the plane, it will be a relief b/c you can't worry anymore about what you forgot to pack! That's how it was for me getting ready for China, anyhow.
Just make sure you've got your essentials (meds, etc.) and the rest will work out. The main thing you are bringing to these folks is yourselves/your love and kindness.
Have a wonderful trip!
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