With the birth of my fourth grandson last week, I am again marveling at God's creative abilities. How can something as cute as my grandson (and that is how every grandparent sees their grandchild) come from one microscopic, fertilized egg that begins as a cell and multiplies into countless millions of other diverse cells, resulting in a child with hair, eyes, fingernails, a heart, a brain and neurons and all the other intricate parts of our being? God is so amazing! And if we are created in his image, as we are, and are only a human and limited image at that, how much more incredible is God himself!! I can't wait to see God in all his glory and majesty!
The Cry from the Cross: A Cry of Affection
We have some families who have also experienced the other side of the birth of a baby. They have lost a child at birth, or right after birth, or during the pregnancy. They have experienced a grief that goes deeply to the soul, especially for a mom. Just as hard, I imagine, is the loss of an older child before their life should end. This Sunday, my message looks at Jesus' third cry from the cross. This third cry is directed toward Mary, his mother. It is a poignant, tender moment in the otherwise, brutal scene of the crucifixion. And it is a moment that speaks loudly to our relationship with our parents and our relationship with our children.
We are moving into the third week of Lent, and Easter will be here before we know it. I hope you are praying that God will open the door to invite someone to our Easter Sunday service. There are people who not only need God, but are looking for God. And they may be the person you see each day at work or at school. Pray for them as God leads you.
Building Progress
With the main structural steel supports and concrete in place, the framing has started. By the end of this week, we will see the outside walls begin to take shape with the sheeting going up (that's the yellow pieces in the pictures below). The roofers are tying in the old roof to the new roof. Unfortunately, we have discovered that the old roof above our present lobby and lounge needs replacing. On the positive side, redoing that part of the roof will unite together the old and new roof into one solid roof, and with some modifications of sloping the old roof, water will run off in a much better system than we had before.
We also have to modify our drainage system a bit so when the water runs off the roof, it will get carried away from the building. You can see some excavating pictures to locate where the existing drain is that we need to tie into.
The pictures below show the framing, sheeting, roof work and drain work. There is also a picture of the sprinkler pipe that runs into the lobby and then is ready to branch off to various places as we work toward sprinklering the entire building.
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| This is our new front entrance. Can you imagine yourself walking through it? |
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| This is the sprinkler pipe ready to branch off in several directions. |
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