We are counting down the days until we move out of our house, which means a lot of sorting, cleaning out and packing. Most days include at least one disagreement between a child who claims a toy is “so special” and a parent with a trash bag trying to discard of said special toy. Let’s be honest, it’s usually not even a toy; it’s usually something “very special” like . . . 

• A piece of paper
• A broken crayon
• A toilet paper roll
• A mismatched Barbie doll shoe

You get the idea. I’ve learned to pack when the kids are napping and seal up the boxes before they can pull things back out! 

According to Marie Kondo, the Japanese expert at tidying up, you are supposed to keep only what gives you joy and discard the rest. It’s a great philosophy, but what do you do when you have more things that bring you joy than you can possibly fit into two 50 lb. suitcases? How do you boil down all your possessions into what you can carry on a plane? Sure, we can buy new things overseas, but it’s still a lot of cutting back and letting go. 

For example, there was this plastic kid’s desk that I sold online for $7. When the buyer came to pick it up and Evelyn (4 years old) realized what was happening, she started to cry. The woman buying it told her that her daughter would love the desk and take good care of it. Immediately this helped. As the woman was leaving, Evelyn called out to her, “I hope your daughter loves it and takes care of it!” Later I received a sweet photo of the girl with her new desk and I showed it to Evelyn. It eased her grief of letting go. 

As we are picking what stays and what goes, here’s my “top 5” list of what I’m taking to Cambodia with me (excluding the obvious essentials like clothes, travel documents, medicine, etc.):

• Comfortable shoes (Hard to find U.S. sizes in Asia)
• Favorite board games (Ticket to Ride!)
• A device to read ebooks
• A battery operated fan (for power outages!)
• A one year supply of makeup and contact lenses (Yes, I cheated by combining these two into one item.)

Anyways, this whole process has caused me to spend a lot of time thinking about what’s really important and what doesn’t matter all that much. God’s Word says “do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.” I can see why. The more joy I seek from my material possessions, the more it hurts when those possessions inevitably go. Instead, I’m commanded to “store up treasure in heaven.” God’s treasure brings joy that never ends. It’s the treasure of his love for us, the relationships we form and the eternal impact we make on others here on earth. This is the treasure I can take with me no matter where I go, and so these are the things I will keep holding on to.