brrrr

When I looked outside at my car first thing this morning and saw a thin layer of ice on it, after cleaning all the ice off of it yesterday, I was pretty certain the church would remain uncleaned this week. Yesterday when I called to find out the condition of the road so I could "get'er done", the end of the conversation went something like this: "Well, let me put it this way. If we were having church at 10:30 this morning, we would not be meeting." That was all I needed to know to make the decision to wait until today. It was supposed to get up to 36 yesterday with no more precipitation until Monday. Today should have been fine to go. But that ice. 

Since I am paid to make sure the building is clean for Sunday I felt, regardless of my initial thought to leave it undone this week, the responsible and right thing to do would be to ask if the road had been cleared yesterday. If it hadn't been, that was my answer. Long story short, I was told it wasn't completely clear, but I should be fine.Armed with a vote of confidence in my ability to navigate less than perfect road conditions and motivated by  duty and obligation, I got in my car and headed out to Damron Branch. To my surprise, the roads were clear. Until I got to that last leg and it wasn't bad. Mostly clear, just a few spots slushy.

The parking lot, however was another story. It had not been plowed or shoveled and it was not fun to maneuver across, but I made it safely to the covered porch. When I entered the building it was chilly. I figured they'd turned the heat down to save energy. I got busy emptying trash cans and cleaning bathrooms. When I went upstairs to work in the sanctuary it was colder than the basement had been. That's unusual. I checked the thermostat, planning to turn the heat up to get ready for Sunday services. The temperature was 47 degrees. The flashing red screen I'd noticed on the boiler was making a whole lot more sense and I thought I should probably let someone know right away, rather than waiting until I got back to town to send the pictures I'd taken of the screen. (Sometimes it's simply a maintenance reminder, but with that temp, I knew it was no reminder.) 

I called the preacher, who lives across the road, and he said he'd come down to take a look. He figured out and fixed the issue. As he was leaving I told him; "I thought the reason I was supposed to come out was to fulfill my obligation to clean. Now I am thinking it had more to do with this." He agreed. 

This isn't the first time, and I suspect it will not be the last, that I am thankful I did what I was supposed to do, out of obedience, not necessarily out of desire, only to find out later there was a more important reason for me to be where I am.