In and out of boxes ...

When I came to Minnedosa I brought with me 48 boxes of carefully packed and organized books. In the time since I know I've added to my collection - the shelves in my office groaned under the weight of an ever growing library ...

On Sunday February 12th, when we were allowed into the office to begin packing up, Rev. Joe Ball and I packed up most of my office in less then an hour ... the result was several dozen over full cardboard boxes, and my library in no particular order ...

Today I set about to change that ... I began unpacking some of the boxes and setting up a working library to help me in my service prep ... It has been a good process. I have been able to reaquaint myself with some of the gems in my collection, but it has been a hard process in that I am beginning to realize the totality of the affect the fire has had on things as mundane and very day as my books ...

We move forward ... one step at a time ... There are many challenges (like not enough bookshelves) and there will be many more ... but with the cards and letters that are pouring in and the many emails we've recieved here in Minnedosa we know that we have the prayerful support of many people across Canada and even around the world ...

It's a humbling experience to be walking this journey ... I have been saying - I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but I also wouldn't miss it for the world ...

Over and over I have come to realize that the words we speak so easily in worship as part of our creed in the UCC, those that say - "We are NOT alone ..." are not easy to live, but in moments like this we can be thankful that they are true ...

We are not alone ... God is with us ... and God's children are with us too ...

dayenu,