Tuesday, August 16, 2011

8 Rules for Easy Moving

I heft the ancient wooden fruit crate stuffed with textbooks new in their plastic wrap, a few favorite novels, and folders of important information sideways down the narrow stairwell, simultaneously attempting to avoid bumping the hand rail and escape scratching the paint on the opposite wall. I’m going to regret this tomorrow, I realize, chastising myself for my poor body alignment while lifting a heavy object. Maneuvering between the post and the empty stacked clothes hampers at the bottom of the stairs, I carefully wriggle free of the confining space and bump the door open with an edge of the box. Several minutes later, the crate joins pillows, clothing, hangers, a coffee maker, and other items necessary to a college student’s survival that spill from the trunk and over both seats of the van. Three more days, I think to myself four or five trips down the stairs later. Three more days until I wipe my wet eyes, grit my teeth, and drive off into my next big adventure: University of Nebraska.


Over the past couple years, I’ve developed a habit of moving at the beginning of fall. In 2007, it was Kansas to Idaho. The next year, I was still reeling from arriving in Mexico a few months earlier. 2009 moved me from Tijuana to Ensenada, and then from Ensenada to Costa Rica last year. Now, it’s Kansas to Nebraska. Thankfully, all my stuff doesn’t have to fit into a hiking backpack and shoulder bag this time (okay, honestly, it never did. . .). In all my shuffling of countries and states, I’ve learned a few things that make moving easier:

1) Pack your items into the container you will store them in. That way, you know they fit and you just have to find a place for the container.

2) If it can be bought cheaply in the place you’re going, leave it behind here.

3) Make room for personal mementos and pictures. The sense of home and security in a new place is worth the extra space.

4) Get an aerial map of the town and memorize a few main street names and how they intersect. Also find a catchphrase that describes the general layout of the city for easier navigation (i.e. “gridlock,” “wheel,” or “diagonals”).

5) Know ahead of time what you actually need and what you just want to have along. Saves time when you find out you brought too much.

6) Know what your first commitment is, who your contact is, and how to get in touch with them.

7) Even if you’re the new girl in town, don’t wait to be welcomed. Be friendly first.

8) Remember, God’s waiting with a smile and a hug at the airport (or dorm room).

That last one’s been reverberating through my insecurities all summer. See, as many times as I’ve started over, I still hate it. I don’t like being friendly first when my heart’s hammering, my palms are slick, and I’m wondering what the heck I was thinking. Learning how to share a room with a stranger (or several) is still awkward, and that inevitable lost feeling chases me for the first couple weeks. But over the past several days as the trepidation threatens to overwhelm me, God’s reminded me that not all of the new things are bad and firsts only last for awhile. There are the things to look forward to, like taking a dance class for the first time in 12 years or the job that I was hoping for and got. Refining and expanding my Spanish. Being in college and knowing why I’m there this time. Unforseen ministry opportunities. And above all else, that I am not, and will not be, alone.

Because God lives in my dorm room, too.