Blur

I pretty much lived at church this past week.

I love BBQ sandwiches and I love pulled pork sandwiches. But, after eating the majority of my meals this week in the church dining room and many of them BBQ sandwiches or pulled pork sandwiches (and all good!), I have had enough for a long long time!  The amount of food donations that have been showing up is amazing.  Individuals, churches, organizations, restaurants, and caterers have been donating hundreds of pounds of meat, sandwiches, and other foods.  The Midwest Food Bank has kept us supplied with water and whatever staples, condiments, and paper products we needed.  Food and supplies are piled around the perimeter of the church dining room.

The amount of machinery that has been showing up in our parking lot has also been amazing. Dump trucks, high-hoes, backhoes, mini track-hoes, dump trailers, cargo trailers, and the highest demand item; tracked skid steers with grapple buckets.

Because of the supplies and clutter, we did not have a noon lunch today.  We had two services with a 15 minute break in between.  It was a blessing to be able to gather again one week later as a church family.  It was good to see the families in church today who lost their homes. It has been an overwhelming week for them, and we continue to pray for them.  It has been a blessing to watch the national church family help out our community, as well as to watch the local community work together.  Also, relief organizations from all over the country are showing up to help.  There were so many volunteers that came through this week that I would have loved to sit down and visit with, but was just too busy helping with logistics to do much more than just nod at them.  I apologize if you were there and I ignored you. We are hoping the coming week will perhaps be a little less frantic and a little easier to organize.

When this is all over, on behalf of our church and community, we would love to be able to personally thank everyone who helped out in any way.  But I know that won't be possible.  God will have to be the rewarder.

   The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Ruth 2:12