We are packing up our bags & heading back to Haiti for 6 days! This little trip wasn't in our plans until just days after we arrived back home from our trip last month. Every year the missionaries in Haiti gather together for a missionary retreat. Because we are planning on moving to Haiti in just a few months (Lord willing!), it was in our best interest to do everything we could to make it to this year's missionary retreat.
So what did we have to do? For starters, Dustin put his two weeks notice in a month earlier than we had originally planned. His last day of work will be tomorrow. Normally doing something like quitting a job can be a scary thing for people - especially without another job lined up. Through the years we have been saving money for our emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses) and also putting money aside into other savings accounts. Because of the choices we made years ago, this isn't a scary time for our family. It is an exciting time!
We also made the decision to move out of our house a month and a half earlier than we had originally planned. Instead of moving out in August, we will be moving out of our house mid-June. This will get a renter in place earlier and won't leave our house sitting empty for two weeks during our June training (MTI) in Indiana.
So what does this mean for us? Reality is hitting BIG time. We have started going through our things....making piles of what to sell, what to keep, and what to give away. Here is the picture of Ainsley's "take to Haiti" toy pile. She is doing such a great job of deciding what she would like to take with us and what she is ready to let go of.
Tomorrow we will be dropping off one of our dogs to her new home...Jade, our first baby! With this upcoming trip to Haiti, a trip to Kansas a week later, and then a 2-week trip to Indiana it made sense to give Jade to her new family. Her new family will love her just as much, if not more than we do! I am so thankful that both of our dogs will be going to homes with families who will take great care of them.
So here we are:
One day away from giving our first-born (dog) away, three days away from boarding a plane for our second trip to Haiti, and a month away from moving out of our house. THIS.IS.GETTING.SERIOUS.