Charles and I just put together and shared with our local Taichung community a pretty comprehensive list of all the furniture and big items we are selling since we’re leaving Taiwan. Because it’s an overseas move, it’s cost-prohibitive to take most of our household items with us. That means selling couches and beds, bookshelves, dishes, the dining room table, and just about everything but the kitchen sink.

Let me tell you: selling all of our household belongings makes the move feel REAL and imminent. Kind of like a kick in the pants. “It’s time to say goodbye to everything that has made your apartment home during your time in Taiwan.”

Of course, we are taking home keepsakes. One blessed by-product of having to travel home to the States twice since this past December is that we were able to take home four checked bags and two carry-ons (between the two of us) for each trip. We took advantage of those bags and carefully packed Christmas ornaments, figurines, artwork, and other “special” things. At least we’ll have touches of our Taiwan life when we move back to the States. We are incredibly thankful for that.

But it is definitely a reality check to be selling most of our belongings plus our car and also to be planning to close bank accounts, quit phone service, and figure out how we’re going to live the last few days of life in Taiwan with no furniture in our apartment (I guess we’ll be needing to stay with a friend!).

As life wraps up here in Taiwan, I am filled with emotions. It’s tough to focus on the logistical to-do list when the emotional dam is threatening to overflow. But maybe the to-do list is a good thing in a way: it keeps me from obsessing over the sadness of leaving.

The other night I was talking to my mom, and she mentioned that she thinks that our move back to the States is going to be really good. (Let me note that my parents have been in FULL support of our ministry overseas; in fact, they lived in Taiwan themselves for a number of years, so this is not simply a mom wishing her child were closer to home). Mom realizes that my husband and I need a season of rest and a time when we are close to family and far from the transient life of expats, and we fully agree with her. Sad though leaving Taiwan may be, we are looking forward to what lies ahead back home for us.

But for now, I better get off the blog and back to work. We’ve got a lot to do before moving day!