{"id":779,"date":"2008-05-28T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2008-05-28T18:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/?p=779"},"modified":"2008-05-28T12:00:24","modified_gmt":"2008-05-28T18:00:24","slug":"packing-my-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/2008\/20080528-779.htm","title":{"rendered":"Packing my bag"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I am a firm believer in having mottoes for life. One of mine is &#8220;Always have a bag packed.&#8221;  The idea popped into my head one day as I was brainstorming story ideas&#8211;and I&#8217;ve worked towards it ever since.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m reminded of the Passover Seder, where participants are dressed in cloak and sandals&#8211;ready to depart as soon as God works their deliverance.  I&#8217;ve always loved all the symbolism of the Passover&#8211;and this motto seemed to fit right in.  I have my bag packed literally because I can never know when I might be offered the chance to travel on the fly.  And I figuratively have my bag packed, ready to obey whenever God says &#8220;go&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In the literal sense, I have a carry-on size suitcase that I carefully repack after each trip.  It contains just what&#8217;s needed for a week-long excursion&#8211;or longer if you do laundry:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 pair slacks<\/li>\n<li>2 skirts<\/li>\n<li>1 pair capris<\/li>\n<li>1 versatile jumper<\/li>\n<li>6 short sleeve knit tops<\/li>\n<li>1 t-shirt<\/li>\n<li>1 blazer<\/li>\n<li>1 chiffon scarf<\/li>\n<li>1 bandana<\/li>\n<li>1 pair flip-flops<\/li>\n<li>underwear for a week<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition, the main compartment contains:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>2 Hankies<\/li>\n<li>Toilet paper<\/li>\n<li>Laundry bag<\/li>\n<li>Extra bags<\/li>\n<li>Feminine Products<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The front pockets of the bag contain all the necessities of life:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sewing kit<\/li>\n<li>Mini first aid kit<\/li>\n<li>Toiletries<\/li>\n<li>Minimal makeup\/hair stuff<\/li>\n<li>Pens\/Notebook\/Glue Stick\/Notecards<\/li>\n<li>Plastic eating utensils<\/li>\n<li>Solar calculator<\/li>\n<li>Batteries<\/li>\n<li>Flashlight<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It&#8217;s all ready so that all I have to do is grab my Bible, my meds, and any seasonal supplies (swimsuit or coat or whatever) and go.  In case I&#8217;m headed out of the country, my passport and appropriate information is hidden away elsewhere in the house inside a travel wallet.<\/p>\n<p>The figurative sense, the deeper sense, of the motto is a bit harder to do.  I find myself growing attached to the things of this earth, comfortable with my church, my job, my home.  I slip into complacency and collect thing after thing.  But in the back of my mind, my motto reminds me: &#8220;At any time, God could call you away from all this.  Are you ready to go?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve heard back from a family friend in Mexico.  She confirms that she is still looking for someone to come down and tutor her 14 year old daughter.  Am I ready to go?  I&#8217;ll have to finagle a few things, jimmy a few details.  I&#8217;ll have to take some time off work, maybe raise a wee bit of money.  I&#8217;ll have to figure out how to get down there.  But otherwise, I&#8217;m ready to go.  The only thing to deal with is details&#8211;not whether I&#8217;ll be able to go.  I&#8217;ve been working towards a schedule, a life, that will give me this freedom&#8211;the freedom to drop it all and answer the call of God.<\/p>\n<p>So today, my first day back from a week in Illinois, I did my laundry and repacked my bag.  I popped a Spanish tape in my car cassette player.  My bag&#8217;s packed, Lord. Send me wherever You will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a firm believer in having mottoes for life. One of mine is &#8220;Always have a bag packed.&#8221; The idea popped into my head one day as I was brainstorming story ideas&#8211;and I&#8217;ve worked towards it ever since. I&#8217;m reminded of the Passover Seder, where participants are dressed in cloak and sandals&#8211;ready to depart &#8230; <a title=\"Packing my bag\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/2008\/20080528-779.htm\">Read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Packing my bag<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bekahcubed.menterz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}