Practical matters

I know, some of you were wondering if it would ever happen. We searched newspapers, magazines, the internet. We talked to friends and family, and even put requests in church bulletins. We visited sales people, talked to mechanics, and kept hunting. We were looking for an enclosed cargo trailer, and they’re not cheap. However, as time passed we discovered that the used ones were often selling for more than the new ones!

So, we started looking around for new ones as well as used ones. We found one for a pretty good price, a little over an hour’s drive from home. They had one left, so I drove over to take a look. It looked good – a 5×10 cargo trailer, nothing fancy but adequate for what we needed it for. And – to make a long story short – there it is in our driveway.

What is it for, anyway?

This is a cargo trailer, for hauling. We’ll be using it to take our personal belongings, school things and ministry tools to Mexico. It will also be used for moving furniture and appliances as we set up house in Mexico, and for our various moves and trips over the next few years, as needed. Hopefully in the end it will save us money and time as we learn to be a more mobile family.

Anyway, praise the Lord that we finally found something! We’ve been working on this all summer. Or perhaps even before the summer. If we’d bought a new one a couple of months ago, we would have saved ourselves a lot of time and money – but hind sight is 20/20, isn’t it? We’re just thankful we have it now, and we’re already putting it to use, as we finish sorting and packing. Thanks to all those who prayed and helped with this search!

A few people have had suggestions of things we can do once we “get settled”. These are things that we probably will do. But if we wait until we’re “settled”, we’ll be doing them in Mexico. Life just isn’t going to be settled any time soon!

The good news is that we did indeed get out of our apartment in time (barely). We truly couldn’t have done it without the help of friends and family. I still haven’t told you about all that went on, but let’s just say many mini-disasters just kept coming our way, but by the grace of God we made it through.

So, we’re now living out of suitcases, staying with friends in Cochrane, and trying to get ready for the move south. The mini-disasters seem to be continuing. Soon after we moved in we got sick, and were up all night with Nathanael, who was especially sick (he’s on the mend now). We’re just trying to take it one day at a time (ok, sometimes an hour at a time!), and God continues to show His grace each day. Many of you are getting updated now with the newsletter we just sent out. If you don’t get it, you can read the latest Notes from the Cottrills here. (If you pray for us, please consider signing up personally for our newsletter. That encourages us and reminds us to pray for you too!)

We’re still trying to get a cargo trailer. That will be a big help as we finish packing. Lord willing over the next week we’ll be able to focus a little on getting those bins packed for Mexico. Our intention was to have that done by the time we moved out but…well, let’s not get into that. 😉

Thanks again to everyone who has been such a big help over the past few weeks. May the Lord show you His love to you as you have shown your love to us!

I’m just swinging by to give a very brief update. If I had time today I’d tell quite the stories, but those will have to wait for later.

What we’re trying to do right now is get all moved out of our old apartment. We’ve actually been out of there for a few days already, living in our new place in Cochrane. Due to a number of factors, our time to get things done has been shrinking, and so we have ended up with an atmosphere of total chaos in both places. How we’re going to get it all done in time, I have no idea. We’re in survival mode, just trying to make it through the next few days.

Today we’ll Lord willing swing by the old apartment to see how much we can get done. We’ll have the kids with us, so that will be a bit of a challenge. We would really like to get everything moved out of there today, so that we can finish the cleaning next week. With things already scheduled next week (like carpet cleaning), our time is almost gone. Our grand plans to get everything sorted before we got it out have evaporated – if we can just get it in bins, hauled down the stairs, across the parking lot, into the van and away we’ll be happy.

If all the rest of life could go on hold while we did this, it would help. You know, things like laundry, cooking, dishes, watching the kids, getting them what they need, getting gas, and so on and so on. But all of life must go on!

Anyway, I’ll try to give you more details about what has actually been going on later. You know, like van break-downs, trailer troubles, and other mini-disasters that have made life interesting. 😉 Meanwhile, we’d appreciate your prayers. Hey, if you’re in the area, we’d also appreciate your hand with a broom, or your time to carry a few boxes, or especially your time to play with Hannah and Nathanael for a little while. We appreciate those who have been such a help already!

I’d better run – we’ll be in touch again at least on the blog once we’re through all this.

“Wow, this is extensive!”

That was a comment from one lady that came to our moving sale on Saturday. Yes, it was a BIG sale. Especially considering we had already had a big sale, we had already given away boxes and boxes of stuff, and thrown out bags and bags of stuff. How in the world we had everything in this little apartment, I’ll never know.

The sale was a success, praise the Lord! The weather was gorgeous, and we had a steady stream of people all day. In fact, as we packed up we still kept having buyers. Even after 6pm they kept coming.

Yes, the sale ended at 5pm, but it took a long time to pack everything up. We sold perhaps 2/3 of what we had out, but we still had 10-15 boxes of stuff, plus larger items that didn’t sell. It’s humbling to admit that – we are blessed with many things, but perhaps we have also cursed ourselves by accumulating things when we should have been giving.

Anyway, we have certainly taken a giant step toward paying off some of our moving expenses. Today we’ll give away some of the left over stuff, and there are still some buyers that will be picking things up. Here at home we’ve been sleeping on the floor and sitting on whatever we can find, since our furniture is mostly gone.

As is always the case with us, we didn’t get everything organized in time, and so much of what was on shelves was just dumped into bins or rolled onto the floor, so there’s a lot to do around here. We’ll try to focus on getting our temporary living quarters livable, then we’ll finish organizing the rest and cleaning the old place. It’s nice that we have a few days to finish that up.

Special thanks to our friends who let us use their garage and lawn and driveway … and sidewalk and … for the sale! Thanks also to Derek, Travis and Jeromey who helped load in the furniture (how cool – one friend from elementary school, one from high school and one from college. That’s what it’s like living in Calgary – so many people are likely to pass through at one time or another!). And thanks to our friends at vti who let us borrow a trailer for the moving. And thanks to Shari’s parents and sister who helped with the kids while we got ready. And thanks to those who helped us get … uh oh, the list is getting long for a blog entry. You know who you are – thanks to everyone! And thanks to the Lord who continues to give His amazing grace!