Top 10 things I will not miss in moving...

My Top Ten Countdown of things I will not miss from 201 Penny -

10. Rolling from one side of the room to the other from the heavy slant of the building in the back office;

9. Being stopped from rolling from one side of the room to the other by the heavily cracked plastic floor tarp;

8. Bumping into Phil Thacher or Karen Hippchen in a desk six inches from mine while backing into Leah who is a whopping two feet from me;

7. The noise of copy machines and shredders in the morning (or any time of day);

6. An office without walls;

5. Carrying a sweater and t-shirt with me in my brief case because I never know what the office temperature will be;

4. A toilet that runs more than I do;

3. Moving large buckets to catch the water as it cascades through the hole in the roof;

2. Not knowing as I exit my car whether I might get sucked up into some giant hole in the parking lot; and

1. Using a credit card to break into a closet at the bottom of narrow dark stairs so I can turn off our old phone system, turn it back on again and pray that it will work.

History is fun and I will miss many of the quirks that made life interesting and while I will be able to hear to actually use a phone I will miss some of the closeness tight quarters engender - I was actually getting good at playing Twister.

I WILL MISS –

The tangible reminder of the blessings of God as I look at the office now used by Judy and remember that small office was our first office which I shared with two people at one time -- so I think I’ll be lonely in an office of my own;

The memory of volunteers working to put in the reception window and door as we continued to expand our present space;

The memory of volunteers who laid the carpet in the reception room – one of whom is now home with the Lord;

The memory of a client who elicited the help of her parents to decorate our reception area and seeing God work in her life so that years later she would sit on our board of directors (Amy Echevarria);

The memory of the client who didn’t do a great job painting the conference room but so badly wanted to give back for all he had received.

But MOST OF ALL

I am VERY excited about the new ministry opportunities God is providing through this wonderful new space.

I THANK HIM that clients will no longer have to take several buses to come see us but can take a bus that will stop at a covered bus stop right in front of the building.

I THANK HIM that we will be handicap accessible and not have to force people up two sets of stairs.

And I REJOICE in the knowledge that new memories are about to be made and that they will include each of our volunteers as we gladly serve together.