Time for Giving Thanks

It's always time for giving thanks, but this year we are all so thankful for the beautiful new facility that the "thanks" rolls off our tongues easily!  God has been with us every step of this project. We are grateful for that. We are grateful for the Holy Spirit's guidance and the presence of the living Christ as we've built relationships with our work crew. Many wonderful people have crossed our path through this project. We say "thank you" to them. And "thank you" to God for bringing them into our lives.

We say "thank you" to the congregation who answered the call to step out in faith and support this project, especially in "these economic times" (my favorite new phrase). People gave sacrificially and joyfully, and for that we are grateful. Your generosity will never be forgotten; rather, it will live on as future generations are blessed by this amazing facility.

What are you thankful for this year? I'm especially thankful for the joy-filled purpose this project has brought to so many people. To see men and women, boys and girls, working together on the old barn, delivering wood to persons in need, pulling nails, painting the outside of the ed wing, boxing up books and supplies to be stored, taking tours of the new space, enjoying fundraising tenderloin dinners....the joy all this brings truly makes me thankful. Our purpose is clear; we are living into the mission God has for us.

Today's pics show how far we've come with the interior work. It's really taking shape! And it's beautiful! Great skill has been used to choose trimwork, paint colors, textures and tiles. Our workers will enjoy a well-deserved Thanksgiving break. But, rest assured, they'll be back bright and early Monday morning!

Some of the lovely trimwork on the west wall.

The tray ceiling will be spectacular!

Clayton (right) and two of our wonderful workers.
God has blesed us with a great crew!

Electrical panel boxes in the new space.

The skylights - the amount of light is amazing, especially on cloudy, rainy days!

Looking in to Linda's office from the Fellowship Hall.
Isn't the trim work beautiful?!

Clayton has moved his office to the new Conference Room
just off of the foyer.

One of our Latino workers caulking up the trim work.
He was excited that we offer ESL classes and he offered to teach me Spanish!
Muchas Gracias!

Yes, we have so much to be thankful for ~ this year and every year. Today and every day. Let's be like the Psalmist who said, "I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make God's faithfulness known through all generations!" (Psalm 89)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from your blogging pastor.....

Ode to My Office

I've been focusing so much on what's happening with the building project outside of my office that I was taken by surprise this week when my own space became the focus of attention. First thing Monday morning John and Ray had moved my chairs and a table to the center of the room to remove the three windows that looked out onto, well, nothing. Unless, of course, you consider the backside of the new Fellowship Hall wall worth visual interest.

I did. I'm grieving the loss of windows.

Monday afternoon Harman's guys were carrying in drywall to put in place of the windows. They moved even more stuff in my office to get the heavy sheets of drywall securely in place.

Tuesday, while I was at presbytery meeting in Winchester, the drywall was mudded up. Apparently that's a technical term. Mudded up. Sounds like the mud pies I used to make as a kid after a light rain storm. I mixed mud with a decaying walnut tree by the spring house to make organic-looking mud pies. But that's clearly another story for another blog. The "what life was like in the olden days" blog that my children talk about.

Anyway, Wednesday morning I entered my formerly bright, cheerful, homey office to discover that I would be working in what felt like a closet. A big closet, I grant you, but a closet nonetheless. No windows (whether they look out on anything or not), drywall with patches of white mud exposed, furniture scattered, a bit of dust on everything.

It feels strange. Couple the "closet" feel of my sacred space with sketchy (at best) internet service, and I felt alone too. Isolated. Even though Linda was right across the hall, in her brightly lit (albeit cold because the heat had not yet been connected in the ed wing) office.

From the midst of the primeval chaos (ok, perhaps a tad dramatic) I spotted a picture that was sitting on the windowsill. It's a photograph of three generations of Wilson men: my grandfather, father, and three brothers, taken in 1963 on the steps of my home church, Mt. Carmel Presbyterian, in Steeles Tavern, Va, just about 1.5 hours south of Woodstock on Highway 11.

In that photograph, I saw the strength of the ages through difficult times: a grandfather growing up during the Great Depression, my father raising (at that time) 6 rambunctuous children with a wife who did not work outside the home (my twin Laura and I would be born a year after this), and young boys who had yet to experience much of life's drama.


 As I looked at this wonderful photograph, I realized something precious: the picture needed to be dusted. That, and this building project is all about linking the past - with its trials and joys - to the future with all its possibilities. If that means closing up my office windows so they can become library shelves in the "new" adult library, so be it. Bring on the dust! Bring on the mess!

On another matter: last week we had a special guest stop by the work site. This special guest came all the way from Mettu, Ethiopia! Kes Tariku is president of Illubabor Bethel Synod in Ethiopia and is a partner with Shenandoah Presbytery in mission and witness. Kes Tariku took a tour of the facility and was greatly impressed! Here are some pics of our special guest:

Up on the roof. Kes loves the view from the front dormers!

Inside the new facility, Kes was amazed by the duct work and amount of space.

Here are some pics of the work in my office.

Ray removing the window frame.

Window guy making sure the frame is gone.

Fitting in the wood bracket for drywall.

Working on the drywall frame.

First sheet of drywall. Goodbye backside of Fellowship Hall!

Securing drywall in place.

2nd piece of drywall goes in place.

The windows...sitting lonely outside my office.

Now, what's great is that there's so much more work that's been done! This Sunday we're hosting another "walk through" so come on out and check out the progress! God is awfully good to us to give us the responsibility of bridging the generation with this project. We've inherited so much - and we have so much to continue giving to future generations.

Till next time!