T-3 days

Today was our sending service at church, and, let me just say, it was the best sending I can imagine. It was Assembly Mennonite Church's annual Labor Day hymn sing, so we filled ourselves to overflowing with wonderful four-part singing. We leave Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. from South Bend, with connecting flights in Atlanta and Miami before arriving in San Pedro Sula late afternoon.

Our goodbyes have been hard, as has been cleaning out the remnants of my pre-school through college memory boxes. It's hard to know what to keep. I decided that an object's value is a function of my sentimental attachment to it, and how badly I want my children to find it after I die. I decided against keeping my music theory notes, but placed my third-grade baseball card proudly on my mom's bedside table. I recycled my Bio World notes, but kept my fourth-grade report on Peru. I'm still not sure what to do with my playing card collection. Amanda and I laid out all of our clothes to be packed and made some final (tough) offerings to the Goodwill gods. It's humbling to think that all we need will be packed in two suitcases, two backpacks, and four carry-on bags. So far we don't know much about our first few months on location. We do know, however, that we will spend two weeks in Copán at a language school, and that Amanda and I will live with separate host families to aid us in our Spanish practice. We'll see how that goes.

For now, more goodbyes to say, more to pack, and a few more boxes of memories to sift through.