It is a really long and sad story

Every time I drive into the church parking lot {or out of it, for that matter} I see the lift parked in the upper lot. There it sits and has sat for weeks. That we are moving towards mid-January and it is still here, makes this a very long tale.

The lift was brought in to install the new gutters. The work was supposed to happen last summer. {Before the torrential rainstorm that flooded the patio, that flooded the fireside room, that flooded the narthex.} Yup, it is an expensive and a sad story.

But we are not the only 'beneficiaries of sad' along the path. It is my understanding that the company doing the installation has an even more woeful story.

Like, some of the employees had homes up the canyon … suddenly they had things to worry about that superseded our gutters. Well, and then Covid hit the company. How much more pain? {It almost seems like a bad movie, right?} Add an emergency surgery on top of it all.

I have no idea how long the lift will live out front. Nor do I know when those gutters will be replaced. But every time I see the green machine, it is as though I am being re-invited into a place of deep empathy for people and situations that I really do not know.

I am reminded that storms, pain and brokenness touch each and every one of us. Some more than others. Some seasons may even seem unbearable.

Prayers for us all, added grace for the journey.

Pastor Leah