Refiner's Fire

Well ... it's here. This day our church has been waiting for and working toward for at least 6 years. Monday, everything in our building was carried out. Everything was gone through and sorted and packed or tossed and slowly, this room that only days ago was filled with stuff, is now almost empty. Yesterday we were the Steele Ave. church of Christ. Now we are the Ashland church if Christ.

I feel like somewhat of a professional when it comes to moving. While I've never moved out of a church building, I have lived in 20 homes in my life. (That number doesn't count brief times of shacking up with the in-laws before moving into our house ... twice.) And in the packing process, and again in the unpacking process, I tend to do a lot of throwing away. And this process has been funny. To be in a church - where we're taught that things don't matter - and yet to many times hear, "You can't throw that away! ... " followed by a story of who made it or when it was used or why they got it in the first place. One man's trash really is another man's treasure, I guess. So as we moved out on Monday, I did a lot of asking an elder what to do with something. Ironically enough, several times I was told, "Throw it away." Don't get me wrong. I am a sentimental person. Cause they better not have chucked the big spinning wheel Jimmy and the teens made when they were getting ready for Breezewood in 2002.

We'll have a few days of most of our stuff being in storage. The lease we signed with the church that will be using our old building starts today, and in fact as we carried some stuff out, they carried some stuff in. Our new building is 99% done, final inspections will be done this week. Sunday we will have service in the pavilion on our property and, Lord willing, on Aug. 12 we will have Sunday morning service and Bible class inside.

What will this body look like a year from now? What will it look like 5 years from now? When they honor the graduates the year Cooper finishes high school, will we laugh about the day when he peed in the toilet off of the new nursery before there was running water? (We didn't know until after he came out saying, "Mommy, I went pee-pee in the potty!) When Abby walks down the isle, will we remember how excited she was everytime we went to see the progress and the energy with which she ran toward the stage?

A building is NOT a church, the people inside are. And yet, this building could refine the body that meets there. With the focus and love of God as our model, I hope we never stop being refined, in our lives, in our relationships, in our homes and in our churches.

Refiners fire.
My heart's one desire.
Is to be - holy.
Set apart for you, Lord.
I choose to be - holy.
Set apart for you, my master.
Ready to do your will.