Moving: The Numbers

This post is about stuff.

I hope it's not boring...there's no cute quips from the kids! That post is coming. I had to share an accomplishment first. Aside from the emotions of leaving friends, and rejoining others...I have never been quite so excited to watch my things go into boxes.

Check out these numbers from our 2008 move (from North Carolina to Beaufort):

3 people...

that's Matt, Ian, and me.

12,000 POUNDS...

of household goods that was moved when we went from NC to SC.

4 people...

packed our stuff.

2 days...

DAYS it took them to simply put things in boxes.

6 TONS...

Did I mention that a family of three had 6 tons of belongings? I know not everyone has the weight of their things, but put this in world perspective. Some people have the perhaps 5 pounds of clothes they are wearing (and sometimes even that is unusual). We are blessed. Beyond measure. And, really...that is a LOT of stuff for only 3 people.

2 trucks...

Yes, it took two LARGE moving trucks to move our stuff. I'll admit, I was embarrassed!

1 decision...

To change the way I looked at my stuff.

3 years...

To change my actions.

I had become a collecting point to pass on to others. I couldn't bear to see useful items go to the trash, and I knew eventually I'd find a purpose. I hadn't made the time to sort through old paperwork and only keep was Uncle Sam required. I needed to sort through items handed over from parents cleaning out our rooms. I was turning into a hoarder. I. Had. Too. Much. Stuff.

If I really believe that Jesus is coming back at any moment, why on earth am I keeping all this stuff?! And, isn't my stuff keeping me from living each day to the fullest?

I started to get overwhelmed. How did I get all this stuff? Where did it come from? When was I going to have the time to get rid of it? Could I just toss things, or find someone that needed it? What was I going to do with all this stuff? Where did it come from...!?!?! Was I going to end up on a TV show one day wondering how I got in that awful mess!?

I was a mental mess, going in circles and wondering how I could ever uncover myself from this giant pile...of STUFF! It really did seem impossible. I didn't have the time to deal with it! Maybe I could just stop getting more stuff, and the rest of the stuff would just disappear on its own at some point.

(By the way, did you know that even packed boxes in storage represent your time? Time you could spend doing productive things...reading a book, going for a run, giving hugs to friends, or sitting and making new dreams for the future. EVERY item you own has an investment of your time. If you don't believe me, consider that even if you never open your box, it requires space which costs money, which you have to use time to earn to keep it there. I could elaborate, but I think you get the basic idea!)

Being only human, once we had moved and our family continued to grow...I also continued to amass things. Little girl clothes (too many cute outfits, too little time), more junk mail (too many envelopes, too little time), and just stuff in general (too many random things, too little time, haha!).

I'm really good at organizing and making space work for me. This means that I didn't notice how much our stuff had actually grown until I saw all the extra stuff in ONE extra bedroom of our rental house. We had a whole bedroom FULL of extra stuff!

Over the space of three years, and the craziness of life, I kept plugging away at that pile. I prayed for wisdom and strength to accomplish the task. And I used super-nesting energy to get rid of van load after van load. I was DETERMINED to bring back less with me.

THAT is why I was excited to see things get packed up. I had to know...did I change as much as I thought I had?

Without further ado, the numbers from our May 2011 move:

5 people...

in our family...Zoe and Eli are with us now! Wow...we better not leave again. We multiplied, haha.

10,000 pounds...

of household goods. (Ok, it's not as drastic a difference in weight as I had hoped). But please consider that there are now more people! It gets more exciting when you look at the next numbers though!

2 people...

packed our stuff into boxes.

7 hours...

they were able to get it all into boxes in only 7 hours! I'd like to think that if nothing else, things were more organized!

5 tons...

we knocked down our gross weight by a full ton. Keep in mind the furniture has been the same. We had only purchased 2 new shelves since moving, which were replacing 2 that broke. That weight almost literally represents 2 tons of other "stuff."

1 truck...

our stuff fit into one NORMAL sized truck!! I have never been so excited about a moving truck before.

1 decision...

I will never let my stuff rule over me or my time again.

Maybe this was a little random. But, I had to share how excited I am about what this move represented for me in a more physical sense.

Watching those boxes being unloaded was fun. It was a totally different picture from 3 years ago. It was a manageable and realistic amount of things for a growing family of five. And I knew that in those boxes were things we were using, or would use...not just random boxes of STUFF!

Numbers don't lie, and by the grace of God, I achieved a goal.

Through these words hurled into cyberspace...I want you to hold me accountable. I will never let my stuff rule over me or my time. I'm in control of what goes in and out of these doors.

And you my friend...you're in control too. Whether they are moving boxes, piles, or mental lists of stuff...your numbers are yours for the molding. :)