I’ve already talked here about the fire, but after a couple of months of reflecting, I felt like I should add to it.

As one person asked in a comment (okay, so it was the ONLY comment on yesterday’s post, why don’t y’all leave me a comment today?), “How do you even know where to begin cleaning?” That was exactly our problem. I remember going in the day after the fire with my roommate and think, “Where do we begin?” We already knew that we’d be moving into a new apartment, so I had to think about packing everything we owned. The task was overwhelming emotionally and physically.

While my roommate and I struggled with what to do, we had church members and friends come by and help. A couple of people went through our dishes and helped us pack them up to be washed. Another packed up and cleaned out our entire refrigerator, rearranging it in our new apartment so that we could see what we still had.

A couple of teenagers in the church came and packed up our coats, some food, and other miscellaneous items. They hauled bags and bags of trash that filled our dining room to the dumpster. One dear friend helped me pack up my bathroom. Another packed up my nightstand, filled lots of little things: nail polish, hair products, etc. Two different friends took some of my smokey bedding and washed it for me so that it’d be ready for the new apartment.

One family in my ABF class helped me by fixing my toy box (I use it for linens now) that my dad made me as a kid. It is a part of the my bedroom set that I’ve used all my life and plan on giving to my kid one day, so it was important to me to keep it. The bottom had to be removed and replaced because of the water damage, and I probably would have taken forever to get around to it. Instead, this family carted it away, delivering it to me the next week completely fixed.

There were also several things in our apartment that had to be replaced. Our kitchen appliances were completely water-logged. Our dining room table and chairs couldn’t handle all that water either. Our new-to-us microwave hutch carried more mildew than I’ve ever seen. Friends, family, and co-workers donated many of these replaceable items. The church also provided for us a generous giftcard to take care of a lot of the little things that had to be replaced.

I love seeing the church work as it should. God has allowed us to be His body here on earth. As we show love to one another, we further demonstrate John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” By loving one another, we not only get the blessing of serving them, we get the wonderful opportunity to show the world the character of our loving Lord.

In what way have you been encouraged by the body of Christ, the church? In what way can the church be a better be a witness to its community?

On a almost completely unrelated note, I was greatly touched by this blog entry about a meeting with Mike Huckabee. I tell you, he’s not your average politician!

Also, did you notice I used a Southernism in this blog post? I’ve been trying not to use “y’all” for years, but saying “you all” over and over again as I do eventually leads to the shortened “y’all.” Yuck! Someday soon I’d like to post on the Southern words and phrases that I hope NEVER to say. I’m still a Kansas girl at heart!

Ronnica
NaBloPoMo, Day 9