Weeks ago while attending church with a friend, there was a table outside the Relief Society room (women’s meeting room) with some extra handouts from weeks past. Many times teachers will give little handouts with quotes, or other reminders of their lessons as a way to encourage us to think about the messages in the upcoming weeks. This particular one was very applicable to our situation, so I asked if I could have one. I now have it in my thought journal and see it weekly.

There IS something incredibly hopeful about starting over. In January 2014, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf wrote a First Presidency Message titled, “The Best Time to Plant a Tree”. He refers to computer hard drives and how clean and fast a new one is before it gets cluttered and begins to slow. In comparison, our lives can be like that. Not only our spiritual lives, but I believe also our physical lives. We can have so much stuff, so many activities, so many distractions that we forget what is really important. We forget that our family relationships and our relationship with God come first.

Elder Uchtdorf continues, “An old proverb says, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.’ There is something wonderful and hopeful about the word now. There is something empowering about the fact that if we choose to decide now, we can move forward at this very moment. Now is the best time to start becoming the person we eventually want to be—not only 20 years from now but also for all eternity.”

How true that is! We have decided that we want to be different. We want to be simple. Focusing on memories and relationships instead of material things. To that end, we are selling 90% of our earthly belongings, including the house so that we can travel more freely. As I look over the house, over everything we have found, bought, made, and acquired over the last 10 years, some of it is hard to let go. But, I just tell myself that there IS something hopeful about a fresh start, and when we settle down it will be exciting, new, and deliberate. I can’t wait.