YOU DID!

I've just come back from a whirlwind week in Canada.  Much prayer and surfing the internet and organising how to use my days went into the preparation for this week.  I had 6 days....Abba Father, help me to find the next place to lay my head: your choice, please, and help me hear you right!

My list of apartments and condos to visit dwindled to 3 possibilities, once I arrived in Repentigny and started telephoning.  I visited the three, then went back to the first one .... and rented it in perfect peace.  This is going to be my new home!

- a 2-bedroom condo on the 12th floor of this new building
- It has a gas fireplace and a lovely large balcony from which I can see the St. Lawrence River.
- My new address, as of August 1st, will be:

20, rue des Émeraudes
#1207
Repentigny (CQ)
J6A 0A7

The next thing to do was to sign a "Promise of Sale" with my friends, Lucie and Normand Bédard.  We can sell and buy between friends, but the notary needs something official on paper. 

The rest of the time was spent sorting my possessions; deciding what I could keep and what I would have to part with.  Moving from one house to another, yes, one has to sort and throw away; but from a house to a 2-bedroom apartment demands a whole different kind of sorting.  Down-sizing in a big way.  I found this hard, and it's not over yet as there's still more to do when I arrive home in July.  Precious mementos, gifts, furniture with a story, so many things to say 'good-bye' to. Some of you have already done this and understand how these little 'acts of separation' hurt but are necessary as we grow older.

I've done lots of reflecting recently on growing older.  A lot of 'good' aging I find has to do with accepting with grace.  Maybe sometime I'll put my thoughts down on paper.

Six days went by too quickly.  Of course I didn't finish sorting and boxing but I had great friends who came and helped me do far more than I would have been able to alone.  My brother Stephen and his friend Peter came up on my last day and helped finish up odd jobs and took me to the airport.  My legs were quite painful when I left.  Going up and down the stairs in my house over and over again was exactly what I'm NOT supposed to do.  But I had to do it.  I think I see now why my heavenly Father seems to have pushed me forward to sell my house much faster than I had planned!

And now I'm back 'home' in Brussels, with just as much to do here.  My barrels need to be packed to send to Canada on June 30th, the day I leave my apartment.  My suitcases need to be packed with the clothes I'll need in July....

The PCA training course for missionaries going abroad that usually takes place in New York City every July, is going to be held in Brussels this year.  And since I'm on the staff to teach them how to learn a language, I'll be staying until mid-July, and I'll need clothes.

And all the good-byes, and final visits and lunches and coffees with my dear friends in St. Andrew's.  I've already started, and each one is painful.  On June 22nd, after the church service, there will be a 'wine and cheese' in the church hall for everyone, so that I can say good-bye to the congregation.  I'm on an emotional rollercoaster for the next 6 weeks.