Tales from the saga, "Moving"

It was the best of times,...it was the worst of times. Oh, sorry, that one's been used. Well, it was a wonderful day and it was a calamitous day. I refer to packing day for the Kellers, last Saturday.

As they did when we needed the yard cleaned up, the people of the church came to help us--in droves! We were quite overwhelmed. Dal Brandon, the organizing deacon, came early and warned us, "I've brought 100 boxes and we will put 2 people in every room and tell them to pack everything they see. If you want anything kept safe, you had better get it now." And that is exactly what happened. Except there were several things we didn't have the foresight (or time) to reserve. In fact there were a few things from my bathroom that I had reserved in a plastic canister (like my preparation H suppositories, and my electric razor charger) designated for such. But alas I returned from another responsibility to discover that the canister had been packed. And that was the way the day was spent.

We have never felt more loved and cared for, and at the same time we felt invaded and overwhelmed. It is a wonderful experience to belong to a church family that is so loving. Not just one or two people, but so many of them pitch in to help people in need. Yes, we were in need. We could never have been ready to move without this great help. When we rose from our sleep Sunday morning, we discovered that even the toilet paper had been packed. Help! I'm sure the Lord will understand if we buy this on the Sabbath. But we did discover one roll that had escaped the notice of these super-efficient packers.

We found enough decent clothing to wear to church, except for my shoes. My shoe rack had been picked bare, and I had only ancient scruffy shoes. And today I was supposed to preach at Brethren Manor in the afternoon! Just before we left for church, I discovered a pair of my newest shoes by my lounge chair in the family room that had mercifully been spared from the packing blitz.

Dal asked me in church if they had disrupted our family. I replied, "Yes! But it was worth the trade off." Now we are ready to move. We will do our best to live until Friday with the minuscule provisions we have scrounged from the tornadic remains of "Packing Day" at the Kellers.