And a dreary, blustery Thursday too....

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And I'm just kicking myself now for not thinking to take photos with my phone, of the retired Bank President and the retired University President helping me sort out my self-storage locker in advance of my move to Sacramento this summer. Also had a hand from the Stewardship Campaign Chair, as well as the "usual suspects" -- Jackie, my Dad and Debra -- and I'm truly astonished at how much we were able to accomplish in just a couple of hours, removing things from storage that were either trash or suitable for donation, and then consolidating and organizing the rest of the boxes, so that they could be returned to the unit in an orderly manner -- the things that will be going to California in the far back, with the heavy furniture and such (that will either be sold or donated) near the front, and plenty of room for additional items from my study and the apartment I'm living in now.

Lot's of clothes, bedding, and kitchen gear, not to mention all my basketball equipment. It used to be something of an uncomfortably funny joke, how many basketballs, shorts, jerseys, and sneakers I own. Does anybody really NEED that many gym bags? Of course not. It's just a collection, that's all: something that gives me pleasure in an eccentric, but relatively harmless way. What I would give simply to still be able to shoot a jump shot in rhythm now! And yes, I'm keeping them all -- at least for the time being. My father has no business complaining. He should know as well as anyone, that the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.

Most of the rest is books, of course, which will probably be cheaper just to mail...except that means we will have to weigh every box individually and lift it AT LEAST three times, whereas if we simply ship them with freight company the only time we have to touch them at all is when we pack them here and when we unpack them there. I honestly have no idea exactly how many books I own (probably somewhere between four and five thousand volumes), but one of the things I'm hoping to do as we pack them is to catalog them at the same time. It's so easy to type the ISBN into one of these on-line cataloging services, and to watch as the computer does all the work. I'm signed up now with a service called "Library Thing," and we cataloged a dozen or so volumes this afternoon just to see how it works; now the plan is to work for a few hours each afternoon doing the same thing, but packing the books as well as we go. I think my dad finds it a little annoying, but I know my mom would be delighted. The fruit doesn't fall far from that side of the tree either....

In any event, working today alongside Wes and Bill and Alan and all the others just reminded me once again how proud I am to have enjoyed the privilege of being the minister of this church, and to have been called by them out of some thirty-odd other aspirants as the person best suited to lead this congregation into the next era of its nearly 350 year history. And we were off to such a great start together, then along comes cancer...stupid, icky, awful, sucky cancer...and yet, the vision is still there, the dream is still alive, and all the potential and the possibilities and the opportunities are just as viable now as they ever were.

Well, maybe not exactly; in addition to my illness, there is also this little thing called the "economic downturn" to deal with. But if anything, that just makes the mission and effective ministry of this community even more urgently needed, which is why feel so bad about not being able to hold up my own end. Instead, retired Bankers and University Presidents are doing my heavy lifting for me, while I am relegated to pointing with my cane and trying to stay out of the way. 21 months, with an additional 2 yet to go. Then it's off to sunny California, and whatever God has waiting for me there.