Moving Furniture

Claire left home in August 2013 to head to Chicago and attend Moody Bible Institute. 

She was in the States until December 2017 when she moved back to the Czech Republic as a missionary with Josiah Venture. She lived at home for a few months until she moved into her apartment where she lives now. 

But until today, her room stayed exactly the same as it was the day she left in 2013! 

We've been saying for over a year that it would be great to go through everything in her drawers and closet, to sort it, save things, throw away unnecessary items, and turn her room into more of a guest room. 

Today was finally that day! I would never imagined that it would be nine hours of work today, going through everything. But as we started in, I realized that this sort of job is not a quick one! You have to take time to look at every paper and picture, and then make a decision. 

There were things like this description of a TCK (third culture kid) from many years ago, written by the first woman who served on our JV team, ministering to the JV Kids. Who would have guessed back then when Claire was decorating that paper at 14 years old, or so, that one day SHE would be that person for today's JVK?! 

There was this treasure too. 

One year Claire started a recipe book, illustrating it and taking photos to make it something special for her to keep. The above recipe was one that my mom always made for us at Christmas. 

These are truly a taste of my childhood! Thanks Mom! We'll have to make a batch of them this Christmas!

There was this gift I gave Claire when she turned 13.

And this painting from a JV Kid's camp, to show a representation of who Claire was (and still is!) at that time.

An American/Czech rooted in Christ!

This treasure surfaced too!

In 2014, Claire served at Gull Lake Ministries in Michigan as a camp counselor. My dad sent her this postcard from his alter ego, Luther! Oh how we both enjoyed reading that again!

By late in the evening, we had finished the task. 

We moved furniture around, "shopped" in the rest of the house for missing pieces, and even found a spot for the crib to stay out for when our new grandson (due in December) is staying overnight!

Oh how happy my Grandma France would have been to see this change! She was a great furniture mover back in her day, even up to her 90's! I'm not a big furniture mover, so it would have tickled her to know that I thought of her when I did this with Claire.

All of Claire's saved mementos are in just 2 boxes under the bed. That's a lot better than what I still have at my parent's house after being gone for 37 years! 

Claire loves the new look in here, and so do I!