Tracy and I have packed everything we own (and what we didn’t give away) into a tiny little pod (8′ deep, 5′ wide and 7′ tall) that is making its way across country to San Francisco at this very moment. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be to get rid of all of our furniture, and a tremendous amount of our possessions and it was actually very liberating and freeing! When we arrive, in early August to San Francisco, we’ll have very little to unpack and situate and hopefully a much more open and uncluttered home than in the past.

We said goodbye to many of our friends in Chicago-land over the course of the past month and hopped into the car Saturday afternoon to drive to St. Louis to spend time with family and some much needed rest and relaxation. It’s been a hectic past couple of months full of travel to San Francisco for housing and job interviews (for Tracy), trips downstate to meet with churches, and the craziness of packing and loading and wrapping up loose ends. This week will hopefully prove to be much different… restful is the key phrase.

We’ll be enjoying lazy, quiet mornings in the St. Louis countryside where my parents live and enjoy the sites and sounds of the city in the afternoons. I’m looking forward to unwinding, loosening up a bit, and preparing/restoring myself mentally, spiritually and emotionally for our next chapter in San Francisco.