"Thank you. I had a wonderful time."

That's what I heard over and over again when I got to church this morning. No, I didn't throw a party and forget to invite you! More like God threw a party and you didn't answer his invitation.

Well, not really a party-party, but a day of celebrating all the talents we have as children of the Great Creator, as people served flood victims in Rushford and Stockton. One team of 12, from Woodbury Lutheran, Mt Olive Anoka, and students from Concordia University, went to Rushford where they helped tear down 3 condemned homes belonging to 3 generations of one family, hauling everything they could to the curb so the family would not have to pay so much for a demolition company to haul their lost homes away. They worked side-by-side with volunteers from the community and by 2:00 p.m. they were back in Stockton to offer help to the rest of our teams. Three homes demolished in a morning. Seems almost unreal, doesn't it? I think it was Dave Frost who said it was like working in an ant hill.

Several dozen people from Woodbury Lutheran, Our Savior Excelsior and Our Savior Eyota were in Stockton, doing such a variety of jobs it makes my head spin! Thanks to Julie Runge, who served as administrator for the day and Tim Wolfgram, who handled the worksite supervision; they kept everyone busy and on task. It was a good day. People helped clean out basements, haul appliances, install a furnace in the parsonage for Grace Lutheran, move the contents of Vi's antique store to a garage so they could begin the task of tearing out the store's damaged walls, helping Helen and Margo with Helen's house (still...), listening to stories of survival and loss, praying with homeowners, packing backpacks donated by Woodbury Christian Cupboard (left over from their backpack distribution) for the church to distribute to kids in town, haul dividers out of the lower level of the church, remove a demolished deck... Oh, I'm sure I've forgotten many things!

The workers came to church this morning, greeting each other with very soft hugs (lots of sore muscles!) and big grins, and eager to share with others their experience. Over and over, we heard, "It was a good day, a very, very good day." To God be the glory that even with sore muscles and hearts that ache for our friends in southeastern Minnesota, we can still declare it a very good day!

My answering machine just picked up a call and it's a worker from yesterday asking if we're going again tomorrow. I'm game! How about you?