We made it!

Well, after a tremendous amount of work, we have landed in Belize and hope to stay here for the next 12 months. Speaking of which, we are STILL, yes still, looking for a renter for our house in the states. We lowered the rent quite a bit so if you know of any (responsible) people looking to rent in south St. Louis county, please let us know.
Our flight from STL to Belize city via Atlanta went smoothly--almost. The desk attendent at STL originally refused to issue us boarding passes as we did not have a return flight. (technically a rule to enter Belize). She was very adament that we not get on the plane. Fortunately, a much nicer employee came over and overrode that decision. Needless to say, that had us a bit nervous about how immigration would be once we arrived in Belize. Fortunately, upon arrival, bags were searched and passports were stamped and we were on our way.
We were greeted by our priest friend, Fr. Perl and hit the rode. We had a lovely detour at Blue Hole National Park which is situated in the middle of the Maya mountains among a beautiful rainforest (probably the most beautiful area I've ever seen). The kids noticed the leaf cutter ants right away and were pretty mesmerized by that. We grabbed lunch and a quick swim before hitting the road again.
We finally arrived into Punta Gorda (PG) at about 6:30 p.m. where we immediately went to our new "home" that we are renting for the next 12 months. Let's just say, it was a bit of a shell shock for us. Pluses--4 bedrooms, 2 baths, beautiful veranda, 3 blocks from the ocean (no beach though), beautiful wood doors. Minuses--bats live in the attic that is open to the main bathroom, water is a trickle, electricity does not always seem to work, hot water randomly works, yard is litered with trash including broken glass throughout, multiple holes in the walls, neighborhood roosters crow starting at 3 and stop around 5 or 6. Really, those are just the top of the list. Andy and I would have to say that we've stayed in tents that are nicer than this. What's most amazing is that we get all this for about $300 more per month than our house in the states. But still, it is very apparent that our house is one of the nicer ones in town so we certainly cannot complain.
We still very much feel like a fish out of water here but slowly but surely we are getting our bearings. Hopefully within the next week we will have internet at home (I'm currently typing at an internet cafe in town) and will get all of our utilities and money situation worked out. It has also quickly become apparent to us that we must have a bike and hope to be able to purchase one soon from the donations that we have received thus far. Please still keep us in your prayers as we adjust to this very different lifestyle and work to put together our house.

Thanks,
Julie & Andy Kuhnert and kids

Time to Purge

So many details are coming together for us as we have just 4, yes I said 4, weeks left here in the States. We've got our airline tickets booked for a departure date of 6/28. Due to some incredibly generous donors (whom we've never even met), our tickets have been paid for. It is truly amazing what some people are willing to do for a cause that they feel is worthy and we are so grateful for that.

Lately we've pretty much been working around the clock getting our house ready for new renters to move in. The family who was originally going to be renting the home had to back out a couple of weeks ago due to unexpected circumstances. Once we got past the initial let down of finding that out (think slight freak out mode), we really stepped it into high gear and started packing, pitching, painting, and cleaning. Needless to say, it has actually been good for us. As we sit here praying and hoping for God to plop some new renters in our lap, our house is now the cleanest and least cluttered it has ever been in the 11 years we've lived here.

The thing that we find to be most amazing amidst all this "chaos" is the sheer amount of stuff that one family can accumulate in just over a decade. Every box and piece of furniture that leaves our house gets cataloged with a number. Four truckloads later, we have already cataloged into the 50's. What's worse is that we feel like we've barely made a dent in all of our "stuff". Worse yet, we actually began purging our house of stuff last summer via Craigslist and Goodwill and have cleared out countless truck loads of stuff that way. Yet who knew that ridding oneself of "stuff" could bring about such an attitude of relief and gratitude? I find myself actually being grateful for this opportunity to purge. In fact, I think it's probably something everyone should commit to doing at least once every 5-10 years. All of that stuff, even the stuff that we were using (especially the kid's toys) before we purged really just gets in the way. In a family with 5 children it takes a great deal of time organizing and picking up all that stuff. So much in fact, we find myself with less time to do the other things that we should be doing--playing with my kids, maintaining relationships with friends or having some down time for prayer or relaxation. Really it's the "stuff" in our life that often keeps us from allowing ourselves to be full. There are so many things that weigh us down in our lives and our possessions should never be one of them. It's taking a move across the globe for the Kuhnert's to finally realize this. Open yourself up to becoming more full and if it's "stuff" that's in the way, now is the time to purge.