The past week has been jam packed with activity. Tom and I have needed to go to Jackson, MS to take care of several items of business and it took us a long time to get all the pieces in place to make the trip. Then, about the middle of March, a friend just casually mentioned that if we had not made a definite plan, we might want our trip to coincide with the weekend of the handbell concert at our former church. I had been closely involved with the bells since the beginning in the early eighties and Tom rang a couple of years as well. With the concert in mind, we planned our trip. It was a "complete" weekend. Visiting with friends, being in worship, hearing the bells, taking care of necessary business made the days full, but the evenings were spent relaxing in the homes of two families who epitomize the meaning of friendship.

We have maintained a small storage unit in Jackson since Tom's dad died in 2003 and we are anxious to clear it and close the books. Getting into it was no small task! Of course, it was locked with a good, strong padlock to which we had misplaced the key. The management had a bolt cutter, but even Tom and I together could not do more than scratch the lock. Finally, a young man came by on the way to his unit and we recruited him to cut through it. I watched him take a stance, grab hold of the cutter and make child's play out of a seemingly impossible task. When it was opened, I was pleasantly surprised to find nothing but furniture, a couple of throw rugs and drawers of miscellaneous hardware from Dad's shop. A second surprise came when we discovered we could get the two pieces of furniture I most wanted to use into the back of the SUV. Our friend, Boyd, just kept saying: "You won't know if they fit until we try." I was glad he out talked me. Now, the things that are left will fit in the back of a pick -up truck and can be brought here soon.

Dealing with the various projects we had was more affirmation that our lives are works in progress. We have to take things one step at a time whether we have legal matters before us, furniture to move or life to be lived. There is a right way to do things and a wrong way. We are left to choose which way to take. Next week I've been asked to have the program for Wednesday night supper--no suggestions offered for content. Since I seem to constantly ask myself questions of "how, what and why," I am posing two questions for the talk: How do I get there from here? and How did I get here from there? No matter the place, the circumstance or the age of the questioner, the answer is always the same. I'll share the answer next week.

Blessings and thanks for reading,
Pastor Margaret