(Not necessarily in order of importance or in order of realization.)
1. When multiple animals (green and red monkeys, green and blue birds, snake, and fox) that you often see show up in places that you normally don't, it can feel like the country is bidding you farewell.
2. Keep your drill handy to take stuff off the walls and dismantle.
3. While the US has not yet embraced the metric system, we do have Philips head screws which are better than flatheads.
4. No matter how old you get, you are still your mother's baby. When I went to visit my friend recently widowed, her mother in law (at least eighty years old) threw her arms around my neck and wept for her son (at least sixty years old). She cried out, "My baby, my baby died." That was heart wrenching.
5. A house that has been open but not lived in for eight months has a lot of dust, especially in the dry season with harmattan winds.
6. If you feel a cold coming on in the days before you go pack and then spend time in said dust, you will feel like you are going to cough up a lung.
7. All those papers that you think would be great to keep that your kids do in home school are really not all that great. Weed them out! Plus the people selling bread and street side table sandwiches can use them to wrap the bread when purchased.
8. When you are visiting your friend that was recently widowed, you try to share with her words of comfort and not confrontation, so you choose something from the Psalms of David. Instead it still incites confrontation, because they believe you cannot express frustration or hurt to God. I am so thankful that my God is big enough to handle my emotions!
9. Spiders and tiny roaches think they can take over the garage and kitchen when you are gone from the house for an extended period of time.
10. You know you have true friendship with a West African man when tears are streaming down his face when you are telling him goodbye.
11. When a flammable can accidentally gets put in the trash to be burned, sparks will fly!
12. After the eighty year old mother cries on your shoulder, she will tell you to smile and endure because it is the will of God, thus just accept it.
13. No matter how much you weed through, there is still more stuff. Even what you throw out will be treasured by someone. Minimize!
14. All those papers you thought you needed for work just become dust collectors. Make copies and toss them out and move on.
15. Either get a notebook for the small appliance manuals or throw away before the mice use them to make a nest.
16. That China cabinet that took way too long for the carpenter to finish and did not come out with the right measurements will still be a piece you want to keep with you.
17. When packing to move and you have limited time to do so, it is better to say goodbyes sooner, rip the bandaid off, and get back to work.
18. Those bunk beds that you got built before the mattresses arrived so the mattresses were too big for it will not be a piece you will worry about keeping.
19. Keep all linens (tablecloths, sheets, etc.) in sealed trunk to prevent mice pooping in them.
20. Slush Magic cups are really not a great idea here. Mickey Mouse popsicle holders on the other hand are.
21. Even the house helper's younger sister cries when you are leaving because you have been so good for her sister.
22. When staying at a newly opened hotel, do make sure they have the wifi installed and plenty of parking, so you can still park inside their walls even when they have a big meeting.
23. Do go ahead and stay at said new hotel so that you can have a break from the packing and be clean and let them cook dinner for you.
24. Fancy security door stoppers do not work on outward opening doors.
25. Command Hooks are awesome, super easy to remove. Just make sure you have more adhesive for when you get to your new place.
26. Do make sure to take down solar lights and their panels. Do let someone else clean the outside of the BBQ grill for you.
27. When you remove the garden wall decor from the wall after rainy season, you will find places where the mold did not grow.
28. Do find the books that someone let you borrow so that you can return them and grab a few of those toys your children have outgrown to give the family for the boys they are adopting.
29. A gas stove left unused will clog up and need to be opened before lunch can be made.
30. Don't bother taking the time to take self-adhesive wall art down. It takes too much time and tears easily so it cannot be reused anyway. Before putting up said art in the first place, think if you will be able to remove it if you are pressed for time to move.
31. Baking soda has a really long shelf life. Keep it when you are tossing all the other stuff so you have healthy cleaner when you get to new place.
32. Overall this is a great time to weed out, clean out what you do not truly need.
33. It was worth it to bring stuff over in contico trunks each time you came back from the states and taking up the space to store them because you were able to pack almost everything in them.
34. It was good to not bring the children, because they would have gotten bored quickly. Plus their friends next door are no longer there, so they would not have had them to play with. (Plus the kids can stop thinking if we were here, they could share more with them.)
35. Plan to take all curtains down so that they can be washed before they are packed.
36. Choose carefully who you will leave your children with while you go pack your house. Here is no shortage of people who have had to leave quickly for one reason or another. Our children were able to be at a house with boys and girls for ours to relate to, yet a different family as well to learn how they do things. They also got to experience attending a deaf church and hopefully learn some sign language.
37. No, the girls do not need a million little purses to take with us, so weed those out too.
38. This house, for all the things we wished we could change about it, holds a lot of memories for our family. Our children have grown up here. Lots of lessons, some good and some hard, have been learned here. It is hard to say good bye to all those memories.
39. Thankful for Facebook On This Day to remind me of some of those memories.
40. No, the work here is not finished. There are still many more left to hear. However, He has clearly called us to a new work. So as hard as it is to leave things unfinished, our work here is done. May those who come behind us find us faithful, and may the believers here take the Gospel farther than we ever could armed with the Word and the Holy Spirit.
41. You can tell which way is north, i.e. the desert, because the harmattan wind pushes the bushes toward the south, much like at the beach.
42. The toll road is fantastic!
