• shopping like crazy to get all that we will need for the next two years: socks & underclothes; bigger sizes of clothing for the kids; Kool-Aid, pepperoni, chocolate chips, and other goodies for the dorm boys; and getting duffle bags to ship it all in. (“Shopping? Not AGAIN!” say the boys!)

• sorting through all of our worldly possessions to figure out what to sell, what to take to Kenya, and putting a few precious things aside for Grandpa & Grandma’s attic. This wasn’t an easy task for all of our children! All of their toys had to fit into one duffle bag–with a total of 50 pounds.

• having a HUGE garage sale to sell almost everything else that we own. We sold about three quarters of it the first evening of the sale! It was so obvious that God had sent people to our house to buy our stuff. We were amazed at the things people bought!

• pulling the kids out of the school that they have loved here in Jenison, Michigan.

• getting together with as many friends as possible to fellowship & feast!

• drawing up a final will & trust for our kids. It was long overdue but needed to be done before we go to Kenya!

• getting our International Driver’s Licenses to take to Kenya just in case our old Kenyan licenses cannot be renewed.

• trying to maintain some semblance of order in our house for the kids: reading books, playing games, and talking about the changes that will take place in their lives when we get to Kenya (something we’ve been talking about for 3 years–but you can never be too prepared, right?).

• swimming whenever we can in this sweltering Michigan summer heat!

• selling our car in less than 15 minutes on craigslist. We guess it was priced right!

Now, in the next 8 days, we need to:

• squeeze in one more violin lesson and return the violin that Kylea has used for the past year.

• get haircuts before we leave the country (since we don’t know who will be cutting it in Kenya!). This one’s a little easier for the boys!

• pack 19 more bags to no more than 50 pounds each.

• go to the chiropractor one last time. It might be futile as we’ll be doing more heavy lifting in the coming days!

• discontinue trash pick-up, electric, gas, newspaper, and internet/phone services.

• send out a change of address to all the people who send us mail–including utility bills that will come after we are gone!

• cancel automotive and rental insurance.

• appear in court on August 2 for official eviction from our rented/foreclosed duplex. From that date, we will have 10 days to leave the “premises.” How good God is and how perfect is His timing that we will be gone 3 days before that date is up!

• send updated prayer cards out to our many wonderful, faithful prayer warriors and supporters so that they can continue to pray for us!

• complete last minute paper work and send it into Africa Inland Mission.

• write MANY thank you notes (for which we are VERY thankful!)!

• get passports from UPS with Kenyan visas secured.

• print copies of our airline tickets & check in with baggage totals.

• get a trailer to haul our 24 total pieces of luggage to Chicago O’Hare Airport (plus carry-ons for all of us!).

• spend as much time as possible with family and friends who we may not see again for two years.

• make time for the One who has made this all possible for us! We don’t want to squeeze Him out of our days–as pressured as we feel to get it all done.