Recently, my friend Jessica and her husband Jason downsized their accumulation of earthly possessions, packed up what was left and moved to another state. Their move was a little different from previous moves or even from the average American's move. Part 1 of "Jason and Jessica's Epic Move" tells a little of the background to their downsizing and their journey of faith. {Click here to see Part 2}
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Jason was graduating from nursing school and they did not plan to stay in the college town beyond that, so they began to pack and prepare for their upcoming move, but to where they did not know.
Jason and Jessica began talking about the process and realized neither of them really liked all of their possessions and it'd be silly to pay to move everything with them, so they started talking about alternatives and decided to do something drastic.JESSICA: As much as I wanted to hire someone to come in, box it all up, and deposit it in our new house, that just wasn't in the budget. Unfortunately, neither was a moving truck!
JESSICA: Jason had the idea to take only what we could fit in our cars. That didn't seem realistic so we decided to pursue putting a trailer hitch on our car and purchasing a trailer to take the few things we wanted with us.
Several things inspired the downsizing they did in this move. They had read some of this blog as Daniel and I were going through a similar life change, and they read other minimalist blogs and articles and inspirational books.
They were excited about getting rid of the clutter and only keeping what they loved in their new life in an unknown location. They sorted, held garage sales, sold on Craigslist, donated to Goodwill and Freecycled.JESSICA: I was also inspired by missionary stories I had heard my whole life, about people having only a few clothes, limited furniture, a Bible, and those being the happiest days of their lives. I was craving a simpler life, one where I didn't feel controlled by my things. A move seemed like the perfect time to pursue simplifying our life.
JESSICA: It felt so good to get rid of furniture that didn't fit our desired lifestyle, didn't have a purpose, or that we just plain didn't like.
JESSICA: It was nerve-wracking as graduation neared and there were no job offers. We took step after step, giving notice on our apartment, I quit my job, we bought a trailer, sold our furniture, and trusted God to find us a place to move. This was a radical change for me; I'm a super planner and not having a goal or destination was a real struggle for me. I like to have a goal, and then figure out steps to get there. This time, we took all the steps, praying God would provide the end goal.
Two months after graduation the job offer came in. The first challenge of not knowing where they were going was over, and they moved on to the next challenge: Despite all of the sorting and eliminating the excess, they had too much stuff to fit on their new-to-them trailer.
JESSICA: It was shocking to me the number of "things" we deemed necessary to our lives. It was discouraging. Our nontraditional minimalist moving trailer had too much stuff.
But through all of it, one thing helped them overcome challenges:
JESSICA: Trusting God. We believed he would provide a job and we wanted to be ready when something happened. A huge answer to prayer happened the morning of our move. We fully realized that the contents of our house was not going to fit on the trailer. So at 6:30 a.m. I posted our washer and dryer on Craigslist and prayed that someone would be willing to pay what I asked, and pick up before 4:00 p.m. (our check-out time). Before 7:00 a.m. I got a call from a lady who wanted to purchase the set, willing to pay the price asked, and would pick up that afternoon. It was incredible to me the speed with which God answered my prayer.
Jessica says it's those everyday blessings that motivate her to live for Christ.
JESSICA: God has blessed every step of the struggle through school, every step of our move, and he continues to bless each day in our new home. We had a very specific list of prayer requests over the last 3 months, and God has answered each and every one, with more than we ever imagined. I want to live my life for a God who cares about the little things in my life.
Thank you, Jessica! I look forward to posting more of our interview so we can learn more about your downsizing.
