When it comes to emotions, I’ve never been one who is overly expressive. I try to use my words and think/talk it out, but in sadness or joy, tears are few and far between. But I had a weird experience last week unpacking our plates and bowls, and I think there is more to it.

As we have moved in to our new home we have moved from having work done to the house to doing the normal unpacking and reorganizing of all that we own. Same as moving in the states (kinda). The kitchen was the first to get fully unpacked. We had a ton of boxes for in there and as we worked through them, one by one, we came to the trunk that has our plates and bowls in it. Now listen, these aren’t fancy plates, nor are they family heirlooms. We were given these plates when we got married and have had them the past 11 years. But I hadn’t seen them in three months, and I hadn’t used them in eight months. And the emotions of uncovering a part of our life that had been hidden in a box got to me. And I teared up. I have handed in my Man-Card but I’m okay with it.

I think what I stumbled upon was the hard reality that the past eight months we have been living out of a few suitcases, with other people, and have been in constant moving. Don’t get me wrong, we were blessed to live with family and friends in two different states. And we were blessed to have a place to stay once we got to Uganda. But not having your own place to call home takes its toll. And living out of just a few suitcases/trunks does too. So when we began to unpack our things, and the pieces of our home came out of the boxes they had been packed in since June 2015, we started to feel like US again. Like the Sawyers. And settling in. And I’m thankful for that.

Thanks for all of your prayers over the past year of transition, and thanks for your prayers for the past month as we’ve made the BIG move. We appreciate them very much!