What time is it?

The past 10 days we have been in Cambridge Ontario.
We are taking a class about entering a new culture.
We have talked about a lot of things. We talked about being settled, becoming unsettled, going through stages of acclimation and settling again.
We have talked about how you feel moving into a new culture.
We have talked about how you feel coming home again. Your culture changes overseas.
We have talked about needing to say goodbyes.
So where does that leave us now? What time is it?

We should be on the ground in Malawi in less then 3 months. That is fast.
We are here in Ontario for 4 more days and spending the weekend with my sister north of Chicago.
We will be home in our house only 13-15 days before we close and head to Charlotte for  more training. After that we have 5 weeks of basically doing some reading and planning and spending time with our kids and say good byes to those we wont see for a long time.

It's been a thoughtful time the past week +. We have been busy getting through our home and preparing it for sale. I have been trying to figure out what  to do with the rest of the stuff in our home. So much food, and now the remaining "stuff" that got tossed in closets has to be cleared out. What I have realized is that I have worked hard on getting physically ready to leave, I have done the required things for training, spiritually and mentally. I have a few books left to work through but it's coming. Mostly I am realizing that I have prepared physically to leave and to arrive in Malawi, but I have only prepared spiritually and emotionally to arrive in Malawi and have not gotten ready to leave emotionally. I have only thought about missing my children and precious grand baby. I haven't really thought that much about leaving familiar people/church/food/life.

I am guessing I have to figure out how to say goodbye and get my feelings of grief about what I am leaving behind processed so I will be ready to engage in my new home and culture.

Convenience

So we have an over range microwave. Not an uncommon thing however the one we have had for what seems like a few short years has been twitchy for a while. Google sources would indicate that it has to do with moisture from boiling pots on the stove getting into the controls and sensors. My husband had dismantled it and cleaned the sensors in the past and it magically came back to life.
Not so this time.
Not an uncommon thing as it seems that appliances of the more recent years don't last as long as they used to. We talked about what/how to replace it and I was pretty adamant we do it that day. I found one at Lowes for an incredibly good price which was nice.
Now it really did need to be replaced and needed to be done quickly. We are preparing to sell our home and I am not thinking it will sell well with a dead microwave about the stove. But did it really need to be done at that moment?
While waiting for the clerk to find and pull my new microwave from the warehouse a lady came in and sat down and said, how long would you be able to do without your fridge. Seems they had ordered a fridge and it was supposed to be delivered that day and they got a call that it would be another 2 weeks. The question made me think.

When we go to Africa our kitchen will not have appliances like the first picture, I am thankful that my kitchen will likely have better walls then the second though likely small appliances like these and probably older.
I know from experience electricity in Malawi will be less then reliable. There will probably be regular enough electricity to keep the food in a refrigerator cool enough to be safe. I will probably have a microwave that is low powered but will cook oatmeal for me in the morning. I will have to bake cookies a few at a time in a small apartment size stove. I would never consider this adequate here. But I feel fortunate that our electricity is likely to be off only short periods of time that we will have a kitchen with a solid floor and running water that is relatively safe. We will have to filter our drinking and cooking water but no real concerns about showering etc.
So why do I find it so hard to live with less then ultimate convenience here?
I may never understand that, but I certainly find myself pretty shallow some days. This past Friday I read a couple of articles or essays written by Hudson Taylor. He set aside his feather bed and began to lead a simpler life immeadiatly when he felt called to China. He also began to exercise more and to pursue anything he could find to make him more ready for ministry in China.
So I think about this and wonder what else I should be doing to be more ready for our time in Malawi. I read and study, and we continue to eliminate belongings however it seems small compared to the great sacrifices pioneer missionaries made, heading to the field with belongings packed in a casket, being fairly certain they would not see their families again. I am as certain as is humanly possible that I will see my family again. I will be able to see pictures of our beautiful granddaughter as she grows and to hear her gurgles and first words via video
So this has more questions then answers. Things to ponder. Things to consider as we continue on our journey and know we will live a simpler life soon.