As you know, back in July we were faced with an unexpected move. What should have been a simple transition, ended up becoming a life shifting experience. Not only was our move in motion, but at the same time two family reunions were scheduled smack dab in the middle of those last few days. Perfect timing, eh? (: Moving has never been on my list of favorite things to do and even though I still have a lot to learn about the art of moving prep, I have gotten better over the last few years.
We had already started the purging and organizing process several weeks prior so there would be a lot less to haul around. We decided to put a few larger pieces into storage ahead of time so the smaller pieces could be placed in and around for better space usage. Since I work from home, the studio and smaller items would be moved on the last day to get everything in one shot. All seemed to be in order...or so we thought.
We found the perfect home in just the right spot for our business and at a great price for the location. This little gem of a house had been sitting on the market for several years and the owners thought renting would be better than a cottage sitting empty. They were even open to us enhancing the design of the home and planting gardens. Yes! The dream of our homesteading cottage in this lovely little town was soon to be a reality...but on the day we were to sign the lease the owner had some bad news - He had just received an offer and decided to sell the home. It was an offer they couldn't pass up and so we were on the search again for our new home...2 days before we needed to be out of our apartment! But that wasn't the last of the bad news.
Our apartment complex had a service that would pick up donated items and take them to a local charity. Not only was it convenient, but it was a blessing to have another chance at giving again. Double win! We let them know the charity truck could come by Tuesday and scheduled our move-out date for Monday. We also decided to lessen the stress and stay in a hotel for the weekend so we could have beds in which to lay our weary heads during the family reunion filled weekend (:
Well, sometimes things don't quite happen the way we plan...To make a long story short, come Monday the apartment had been emptied. Somehow the new weekend guy thought the items we left in the apartment were meant to be donated and scheduled a donation pick-up for Saturday. Needless to say Monday was a shocker.
Everything was gone. All of our clothes, shoes, bags, cherished mementoes, decor, curtains, bedding, towels, photos, furniture, jewelry, flat screen TVs, electronics, pots, pans, ALL of my studio items including computer, files, kiln, jewelry tools, drills, torches, silver, gold, gemstones...it was all gone and instantly I was out of business.
We all made attempts to contact the charity to see if some of the items could be reclaimed, but everything had been dispersed over the weekend and shipped out to separate branches. It would be virtually impossible to locate where anything ended up. Apologies were given, but the damage was done. We were left with only the clothes on our backs and a few odds and ends that we had taken to the hotel for the weekend. We were homeless, dazed and exhausted and had no idea our weekend stay in a hotel would end up lasting four months.
I think I was in utter shock for the first few hours and then panic set in...how in the world are we going to replace all of that stuff!!! I can't begin to start over in business yet again! What are we going to do?!! But that panic only lasted for a moment. We had just lost most of our possessions, but this still small voice was saying, "Do you trust me? There's an amazing lesson in this if you choose to see it."
Great...yet another lesson (; We're usually tired, irritated and annoyed when these life shifting moments pop up, aren't we? They appear at the most inconvenient of times, take tons of gumption to move past and are usually moving in the exact opposite direction of where we want to go...hence the learning moment (: I decided to believe this experience happened for a reason and some great epiphany would be gained through it all.
Around this same time several communities had just been devastated by tornadoes. Our situation was quickly put into perspective. Our things were gone, but they were going to support charity. We may have lost most of what we owned, but not everything. We were blessed and I knew it. It's just stuff. We're alive, we have a roof and a bed for the moment and we're safe. Take the next step and move forward...stuff is just stuff and is not the core of why we are here on this earth.
When the stuff we hold to disappears, it makes way for new room to grow. It not only expands our minds, but our vision as well and so we made the choice to trust. For the next many weeks we were on a soul changing learning curve and one we would cherish for months to come.
With Gratitude,
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