Practical Ways to Serve A Family Who Just Moved

     Moving your family from one house to another is no small task. You've packed your life belongings in boxes, and now you have the task of locating everything once again, putting it in new places that it belongs, and making a new house into a home. It's exciting to start over, but the weeks and months that lie ahead are usually filled with late nights and slow progress.

     We have officially been in our new home for 2 weeks, and I can say with confidence that we have made a significant amount of progress. Of course, there is still much to be done, but one box at a time, we'll get everything put away.

     There are many practical ways to bless a family that has just moved, and we received some great "gifts" these last 2 weeks. My mom enlisted the help of some of her friends who served as our "cleaning crew" on moving day. While we were packing up the U-haul trailer and focused on simply getting all of our items out of our old house, they came over and started cleaning right away. Baseboards, sinks, toilets, vacuuming the carpet, cleaning the kitchen...you name it! If it could be cleaned, they were doing it!

     Another way we were served was through a few meals in our refrigerator that were left for us. Especially when you have a young family who is hungry and ready for dinner, a prepared meal that just needed to go in the oven was a true blessing. It's near impossible to cook when you haven't found your pots and pans or spices yet!

     Speaking of spices, another friend dropped off a care package of new spices as a welcome gift. Many of us probably have no idea just how "spiceless" our spices really are. We had been in our previous house almost 7 years, and I'm sure whatever was left had very little flavor to it. Out with the old, in with the new!

     One of the most helpful and practical ways we were served by others during the moving process was through helping take care of our children on move-in day. A dear friend from church took both kids all day long (basically 8-5) and did it with a smile on her face. Then my mother-in-law kept the kids the night we moved in and brought them back the following evening. What a wonderful help this was; I'm not sure how we would have done it without this service!

     What are some practical ways you have served someone who has moved, or how did someone serve you when you were moving?