Outside the Crematorium (our daughter, Carolyn, thought this would be a good title)

One of the surreal things we did was to pack our crate and load the UHaul at the storage facility. We had to be out of the house to let our buyers get in and weren’t quite ready just yet to leave Bradford. We still needed to sort things th

at needed to go in the crate and arrange things in the UHaul.

Our oldest daughter is moving cross country soon and is taking some of the family things from Bradford to a storage place in North Carolina, and Ben and Carolyn are leaving the country to teach English, so they have things they need to take with them and other things to leave. Anna’s college apartment is amply supplied now with everything she could need and more (even the canned goods ; ).

For a few days we felt like homeless people living among our things in a parking lot. (Thanks to the Preston family who took us in and gave us a place to sleep and eat breakfast, such a blessing from the Lord as it ended up taking three days, instead of the one day we had anticipated.)

Now inside the garage area where we had the crate set up was a door that was larger than the average door. As it turned out there was a crematorium behind that door and just about every day it was in use.

Here we were, going about the business of packing and sorting “stuff” while, at the same time, a stretcher would come in and be taken through the big door and a little black box would come out.

As the machine ran while we worked, it was a constant reminder of why we are doing what we are doing, how stuff is not as important people, and how so many need the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ and His love for them before it is too late to make a choice.