--Editors note: This article was originally published in Inspiring Consciousness, the Shaumbra Institute newsletter that is produced for SI teachers each month.

As the final days of 2008 are giving way to the New Year, Linda and I find ourselves in the packing mode. We’re packing up the Christmas tree and putting it into hibernation until the next season. It’s an artificial tree of course, because of the fire hazard up here in the mountains. And someone told me it was “greener” to have a fake tree. I’m not sure if that’s true but it’s a good/bad excuse to have the convenience of a reusable tree.

We’re packing our bags to get ready for our next round of travels. The day after the January Shoud we hit the road for a full month of workshops and schools in Japan, Korea and Hawaii. Not too many people are sympathetic when I tell them we’re going to spend 10 days in Kauai – in January no less – but they forget we have to pack and unpack our bags eight times! This requires a high degree of organization (how many pairs of socks and underwear do you take for a month on the road?) and a saint’s ration of patience.

Instead of counting sheep to go to sleep at night, I count the number of times we’ll pack and unpack in the next seven months. We’ll be at eight different hotels in February, just three in March and April, and four in May. I’m not the kind of guy who can work out of a suitcase so I always put my clothes neatly away in the hotel closet or dresser. This year I think I’m going to make a diagram of how my clothes and toiletries go back in the suitcase. I’m always at a loss as to how I got all of those supplies in the suitcase at the beginning of a trip but never can get them back into their designated spot when I’m repacking on the road.

Late the other night I calculated that I’ll pack, unpack and repack my bags a total of 45 times between now and July 2009. At an average of 1.5 hours per episode, that’s an impressive 67.5 hours of bending over my suitcase. This doesn’t include the time it takes to wash and dry the clothes. Maybe Tobias was right. I should consider wearing a robe and sandals. And if I grow a beard I won’t have to pack my electric razor. Just think of the time I’d save!

While packing up some Christmas presents to take to the post office the other day I realized I had a different type of packing job ahead of me in 2009. It hit me like a suitcase falling off a luggage cart: Tobias is leaving in just seven short months. July 19, 2009. His last channel. His last “And So It Is.” No more packing up my channeling abilities with Tobias to take on the road, and no more unpacking and sharing his messages with the Shaumbra audience. Tobias’ suitcase, filled with wisdom, wit and compassion, won’t be hitting the road after July 2009.

After July we’ll be packing a different suitcase. Adamus Saint-Germain’s. I’m not sure what it will look like or how heavy it will be, but I know it will be unique. I told Linda the other day that I’m feeling less and less of Tobias’ presence these days as he is more and more occupied with the adventures of Sam. He still comes in loud and clear for the regular channels and Shouds, but whereas once he was around me on a nearly daily basis, now it seems to only be for special occasions.

Adamus has been in my dreams and thoughts and conversations on a regular basis this month. One might expect that he’d be laying out the post-July Shaumbra program but instead he’s been challenging me about what I want to do. (Less packing and unpacking my suitcase is near the top of my list.) I know he knows exactly what he wants to do, but before he reveals it to me he wants to know what I want to do. Part of me wishes he’d just lay it out; part of me is humbled to know that he respects my wishes and desires.

Tobias and Adamus have told me that 2009 will be a special year for Shaumbra. Not so much because of Tobias’ departure, but because it will be the year when all of us put into practice what we’ve learned these past 10 years together. Many of us will be moved out of our comfort zone in 2009; and most of us will find that the comfort zone was also the dis-comfort zone because it kept us hidden and gave us a false sense of security. 2009 will be the time of fulfillment and realization of our dreams, even if the rest of the world seems to be filled with anxiety and uncertainty. It is the time for the new breed of spiritual teachers to step out from the shadows and proclaim, “I am a New Energy teacher!” As the angels remind us over and over again, humans are looking for the Standards to help guide them into their personal spiritual integration.

Linda and I are already packing our physical and metaphorical bags for the New Year. Knowing the potential this year holds for every Shaumbra Institute teacher, we invite you to get ready as well. It will be a busy and inspiring year for all of us.