Moving: Purging, Piling, Sorting

Travel files—a treasure trove of memories

Our deadline to be out of the Mainstay Ministries offices is April 1st of this year. This means books have been packed, files have to be cleaned, out-of-date storage records need to be shredded, boxes need to be taken to Goodwill, good metal desks need to find a home, the office kitchen needs to be broken down. My daughter, Melissa, has swooped up the white cabinets and the screen and the microwave and the hot plate for the little apartment in her basement. Our son, Joel, is taking the half-size refrigerator for his basement bar area (serving sodas and fruit juices). And, we are wondering, in the middle of all this dislocation, if we are going to make it on time.

The goal is to clear out our finished basement, move the furniture from there to our daughter’s home, settle what is left from the office down there. This requires changing phone lines, setting up computers, deciding on printers, and overseeing the general planning that goes on with this sort of a move. It is unsettling, wearying, dislocating (I can’t even fine my office Bibles). But, there are advantages.

First, we will save $800 a month in rent. Since we left our national broadcast some 25 years ago, where we had a donor list of some 35,000 people, now some 400 faithful friends regularly underwrite our support. Of course, our staff is smaller, our operations are not so far reaching. These donors regularly overwhelm us with their generosity. But, at the same time, many are experiencing diminished incomes. David and I certainly know what that is all about.

Click here, to learn more about the article.

To find many valuable resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries main website, please click here.

To learn more about Karen as activist, writer, and thinker, please click here.