Finished up!

Saturday Debbie and I finished up her building. She really helped me with the times it was simply essential to have a 3rd hand! And she got her share of blood blisters and minor cuts, too. But the building is up, looking fine, and already has a lot of stuff stored in it. Now I just have to put on the 'tie-down' kit to keep it from flying away in a wind (not that I seriously think it would--I built the building on a foundation of 6x6 treated beams!

Sunday was another thing 'finished up.' Our church paid off an 11-year indebtedness that started off at a half-million dollars. Even after I came as pastor in January 2007, we still owed nearly $100k. But thanks to generous donations, the debt was paid, we burned the note (and all those pink shreds from the promotional posters) and we all had a great potluck lunch after worship.

Another thing that looks to be finished up is the stock market...I calculated that the losses to my retirement fund roughly equal my entire earnings for the 1 & 1/2 years I've been pastor at this church. So any 'early retirement' plans are probably on indefinite hold. Seems like the last time we had a dip (collapse?) like this, it took 7-10 years for the market to recover. Hope it won't this time...but I'm afraid it may take even longer. Pity the poor builders, carpenters, etc. who will be out of work until the 'existing inventory' of foreclosed homes gets sold.