Practical matters

Yesterday we had another day without the kids (thanks to some friends who agreed to watch them for the day). So, we were up to our ears in packing again. Now the walls are mostly bare – with only nail-wounds where pictures and photos once hung.

There’s still a lot to do, though. I have no idea how we’ll get everything done in time for the moving sale, only 2.5 weeks away.

Yesterday was also the first day that the management could show our apartment to potential renters. First thing in the morning the apartment was shown twice, then the manager knocked on our door again to hand us the notice – our apartment had been rented. “What took you so long?” I asked. It’s a sign that the Calgary market is slowing down when people actually have to come and look at the apartment before they rent it.

Today our van is officially being advertised, so we’re hoping that the phone will start ringing off the hook any minute now.

I’m also hoping to look at some trailers, since we’ll be needing one to get all this stuff to our moving sale. I’m learning a lot of things I didn’t know about cargo trailers, but I still have a lot to ask. A missionary has to learn about quite the variety of things – we’re thankful we have friends who know more than we do!

Remember this vehicle? Well, gaze on it one last time, because it’s officially up for sale. God really blessed us with this van. It ran well and took us many places in two countries. Special thanks again to the Edwards who gave it to us for such a reasonable price.

If you’re in the area and looking for a van, feel free to come and check it out. It’s a 1993 Ford Aerostar XL Sport (extended van). 4.0L V6 FI/RWD, 3 child seat anchors, rear wiper, AC, 295,200km, medium green. Give me a call and we’ll see what we can do.

All the better if you happen to have an enclosed cargo trailer for trade. We’re hoping to have that trailer in about 3 weeks time so that we can use it for our moving sale, for the move itself, and also to pack in what we’re taking to Mexico. Lord willing we’ll at least be able to get some money for this van to help us pay for a trailer. We’d appreciate your prayers as we continue looking.

But for now, bye bye Aerostar. And thanks, Lord, for providing it right when we needed it (yes, God reads our blog too! Can you believe that?)! (Did you ever hear the story of how we got this van? Check out The van from 28 May 2004)

You may remember what we said about our expenses going up. Well, things are not getting any better. Our apartment was one of the cheapest in the area for what it was when we got it, and it probably still is. But of course Calgary has since become one of Canada’s most expensive cities, and our rent just keeps increasing. If we’re going to pay for all our expenses to move to Mexico, we need to slash our expenses. Really slash.

And an offer from some friends will make that possible. We’ve given our notice. In a few days we’ll be paying rent here for the last time. By the end of August, we’ll be out of here. We’ll be moving temporarily to a little one bedroom suite in the town of Cochrane, about 40 minutes from where we now live. It will literally save us hundreds a month.

By the end of August, Lord willing, we’ll have all our furniture sold, everything stored that needs to be stored, and everything packed into our trailer that’s going to Mexico. Then we’ll be able to focus on the all non-packing and sorting stuff from Cochrane, such as fundraising and paperwork.

Yes, it’s going to be a tight squeeze – the four of us in a small one bedroom suite. But it will just be temporary. From then on in we’ll be living out of suitcases until we move into our new home in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

So we’re very thankful for this offer from our friends. Tomorrow we’ll be free of the kids for a few hours, and we’ll try to get as much packing done as we can. The time is going to go fast! We won’t be moving far this time, but it really will be a big step in the right direction. And Lord willing a few weeks later we’ll be able to head south…

Yesterday we brought home our new/used van. It still needs a little work done on it, but it’s ok to drive for now. Many thanks to the people at Renfrew Auto Service for all their hard work getting the van Mexico-ready!

So we still have the old van. We’d like to sell it, but we’re trying to coordinate it all with the acquisition of a trailer, which we also need. We really don’t have enough money even for a used trailer, but we’re hoping that between the money we have and the old van we’ll be able to get something. We’ll see! Meanwhile the tricky thing is just finding the time to look into these things. Thanks to all those who have been praying about the trailer.

Shari, Hannah and Nathanael are just going out to give the new van a cleaning, and to put the car seats in. We praise the Lord for the amazing provision of this van, which Lord willing will see many kms of service in the years ahead. 54 hours to our new home in Mexico, and then the real challenges begin!

Our thermometer said it was 36C (97F) outside, but we were inside, where it was just about as hot. All day we were hauling boxes, sorting, shuffling. In short, packing.

That’s a picture of our living room as it was this afternoon. We took Hannah and Nathanael over to spend the day at their cousin’s house, and Shari and I got down and dirty into what’s going to Mexico and what’s not. There’s still lots to do. Is the glass half empty or half full? Well, I’m afraid we’re not half packed, so maybe it’s a third full. Or a quarter. Or…

But seriously, we did get a lot done. It’s rare we have the kids gone for so long, and I said to Shari it’s like we did 3 months worth of work today, compared to what we would have done if they were here. So thanks to the Wingers for the help! And I’m sure Hannah and Nathanael had a great time. And now things are a little more organized here for a time, so it will be easier to get bits of packing done over the next few days as we have time.

We also made progress today in other ways. I had a good talk with Phil at our mission office, and things are really moving along with some of the organization that needs to be done from that end. So we praise the Lord for each of these small, practical steps toward Mexico!

(Just for the record, it was only 31C (88F) in the city we’re moving to, Cuernavaca, Mexico.)