Busyness before the final "see you later"

This has been one busy week.

Jim's funeral is on Friday, and everyone in the congregation is helping to get ready for it. After the fellowship meal at church on Sunday morning, Elsa shared her and Karin's ideas for the funeral with a large group of us, and then suggestions were made and jobs were assigned.

The funeral will be at the church building at noon, and then we'll walk to the cemetery for a short service and the burial. Afterwards, whoever wants to stay will go back to the church building for coffee and cake. As of right now we're expecting about 130 people for the funeral, and even though the new building is larger than the old one, we can only fit about 70 or so people in the main meeting room. Some people will have to stand at the back, and others will sit upstairs in two of the classrooms but will still be able to hear thanks to a sound system and speakers placed in the rooms.

Ingrid and I cleaned most of the church building yesterday evening while some of the men mowed the lawn and carried out some old furniture and other things that somehow managed to hang around despite the purging we did before we moved out of the old building back in May. This evening a group of us arranged chairs and talked about last minute details. It sounds like everything is coming together. Elsa told me today that Rüdiger recently said planning something like this is akin to planning a wedding...only you only have a few days in which to finish everything. I think I'd have to agree.

It's been tremendous, though, to see how the congregation has come even closer together through this. I saw a long time ago how much of a family this congregation really is, but it's become even more clear over the past couple of weeks. Rüdiger preached on Sunday, and he reminded us that this is not Jim's congregation but rather has always been and will continue to be God's congregation. Jim will be greatly missed; many in the congregation have lost their "spiritual father," of sorts. But it's their faith in and love of the Lord that binds them together and will carry them into whatever future God has planned for them.

Several people have asked me how I think the congregation will fare without Jim's leadership, and my answer is "they're going to make it." The congregation has no elders, but even before Jim died the men started meeting to make some decisions on how things will continue from here. Several are taking turns preaching, and Mark has taken over teaching Jim's Wednesday evening Bible class. It will take some adjusting on everyone's part, and I'm sure there will be more changes made as the months go on, but I'm confident this congregation will move forward. One thing Jim and Elsa have done very well is teaching people to be future leaders.

Also this week I've begun a new project with Jim's books. I seem to be the only one here with any understanding of Jim's library system, so Elsa has asked me to organize the books in such a way as to make it easier for her, her daughters, and others to look through the books and decide which ones they'd like to keep. This is no small task, and Elsa's hoping I can have it finished by Christmas, which I think is reasonable.

Elsa has also mentioned that she'd like to turn Jim's counseling and psychology books into a small library for use by her counseling clients. When Elsa mentioned this to me, I couldn't help but get excited over the prospects. I know Elsa thinks I'm weird (she actually said so yesterday), but I really do enjoy working with books. To top it off, I've been able to use my library experience in Germany. More than that, though, I'm glad to be able to do something to help Elsa and her daughters right now. There are a lot of things I can't do, but I know my talents can be put to use through this project, and I really feel like I'm being productive and helpful.

On another note, please pray for Jim and Elsa's daughter, Diana. She still has not delivered her baby, and she is already 10 days past her due date. Elsa said that if she doesn't go into labor in the next day or so then the doctors will perform a Cesarean, which Diana wants to avoid.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for me and for the congregation. Please continue to pray for us, especially for Elsa, as we finish preparations and then have the funeral.

I pray that "you and yours" are doing well wherever you are. Gott mit Euch.