This week, we filled our first dump truck full of dirt. Who knew that would be so exciting?!

The utility trench is complete. Pipes and conduit are being laid as I type. The new water main (to replace the circa 1930's one that has served the church all these years) is in the building, waiting to be attached.

And boy, is it hot out there. Prayers for you, jack-hammerers and diggers and haulers and pipe-layers, as you do this good work out in that oppressive heat.

The fence is up.
The light poles are down.
This is progress.
(and poetry!)

What's next?

• Digging a utility trench.
• Digging holes to check the soil beneath the parking lot.

(In other words: some very intentional playing in the dirt!)

If you've ever visited our church, you've probably noticed that we are blessed with an abundance of stair steps. For a single story building (with a basement and an attic), we've managed to squeeze in a truly impressive number of stairs. We have four full sets of stairs leading to the basement, plus smaller sets connecting the oldest building (Reese, circa 1932) with the newer one (the Sanctuary, circa 1956). We even have steps inside two of our closets: how many churches can say that?!

If you add up all the steps leading to the church building or nested inside of it, you come up with a grand total of 180. That may not sound like much, but that's enough steps to build a 14 story building--and way too many steps for a one-story one!

For years (well, "decades" is more like it!), we've realized that those steps are a barrier to ministry. It's hard to be together, or to be truly welcoming, when so many steps stand between you and the Fellowship Hall (in the basement) or Sunday School classes (also in the basement). We've planned and plotted and prayed; and now, at long last, we are ready to build a building that will take down lots of those barriers: a Fellowship Hall, kitchen, and classrooms, all on street level, plus a street-level entrance to the church itself.

May God guide our steps as we work to eliminate some...