We graduate from our training in one week. ONE WEEK! It is unbelievable that our time here has already come to an end. Now we're headed our different directions for the summer (though we don't all know what directions those are).

We're having a team garage sale this weekend. It'll be a treat for the shoppers. For us, however, it is a different story. Last year, before leaving OKC, we had the mother of all garage sales, and I went through and dramatically edited our belongings. It wasn't too hard. This time, however, all the easy stuff is gone. It's on to the painful stuff. Gifts we've been given. Objects tied to memories. Christmas decorations. Things that we picked out together as newlyweds. And it's the stuff that makes life more comfortable. The futon. The kitchen table. Chairs. This apartment was finally close to the way I wanted it, with a place for everything. Now we're selling not just the stuff, but the places we kept it! We have prayed for the Lord to help us not place such an emphasis on our stuff...and for the most part it's not the stuff itself that we will miss. It's what the stuff means. So, dear friends and family, if you visit us in Brazil and you do not see the tchotchke that you gave us ten years ago/five years ago/yesterday, please understand that it has been a painful process for us and we did not part with these remembrances of you lightly.

And now, off to our final FINAL FINAL strategy meeting!!!