Sorting & Friendships

What a day. .... hot, hot and hotter. I headed to Gladstone first thing this morning to sort through the financial and historical records. Some of it needs to be shredded and some of it needs to be stored with the Conference Office. Of course all of the records were in the attic. The attic was about 800 degrees. That is probably a slight exaggeration but not too much of one.

I worked fairly steady for a while climbing up and down the ladder into the attic pulling out boxes, hauling them back down the ladder and carrying them out to the sanctuary. It got hotter and hotter. I had sweat running down my face and trickling down my back. I finally carried what I could out to the car, stacked the rest in the office and retreated. I felt guilty for not finishing, but I did not have it in me to work any longer in that furnace.

So now I have a car load of boxes that need to be sorted and then taken to the Conference Office. I finally decided that it was a better idea to sort them at home in the air conditioning than it was to give myself a heat stroke at the church.

I got home just in time to change out of my wet sweaty clothes and change for a wedding shower at the church. But the shower was very nice but very hot. The bride to be got a lot of nice gifts that will be a blessing in their new home. I am finding that I really enjoy spending time with the people from the church. I am hoping that I will develop some friendships in the months to come.

I have come to realize that I am fairly isolated since I have been out of work. I really miss all the friendships I had built at the Mission and in the Salem community over the past 10 years. So I am hoping for friendships here in Willamina. I realize that it will take time and it will take effort. It will also take some emotional effort and risk and sometimes that feels a bit scary to me ….. well to be honest it feels downright terrifying.

But I am going to commit to reaching out to people and commit to building relationships. The friendships will come in time, if I will risk myself and keep working at it.

I think the risk is worth it.

“A righteous man is cautious in friendship” Proverbs 12:26

Just Connie