When you need a break from the dust of demolition and the fast-paced world of email, a little levity goes a long way. Perhaps that, plus the need to humble prideful adults, is why God gave us children.

I sure do love this kid.

The building of Zion Church, at 9th & D, is going to be demolished tomorrow around noon. See this press release for more details.

Right now I’m feeling pretty sick about all this. I haven’t written much on the blog because I’ve been working steadily on creating/adding content to the new website and taking care of tons of details related to church life. But the gist of my feelings tonight is this: I feel terrible about demolition. It’s like I’m burying an old friend or family member tomorrow at noon and right now I’m simply trying to memorize every wrinkle on his face or recall every time he did something kind for me.

The old church building feels like a friend and I keep telling this competely inanimate structure, “I’m so sorry,” as though I could’ve somehow prevented this disaster.

If I end up seeing my counselor anytime soon, I think she and I will have lots to talk about.

The new site went live this morning. Check it out at www.zionpca.com.

Happy anniversary to my favorite man! Nine years ago we were young pups who didn’t know much about marriage, but we knew we wanted to be together. Jeremy, we’re only begining to mine the depths of true love together. May God bless our union and use us to honor Him. I love you.

Thanks to you praying folk out there. Good news: our sleep situation is improving. We are having less tantrums (Jeremy and me included, heh) and we’re slowly figuring out how to encourage Livia to sleep peacefully at night. This photo truly cracks me up considering that Liv has never been the type to fall asleep in a heap, much less in a heap in the broad daylight. Apparently her nighttime habits caught up to her and there was little I could do Monday afternoon to wake her up!

I jumped at the chance to capture images of Zion after the fire, but still I was fairly anxious at the thought of going on a walk through of the damaged building this morning. I’m glad I didn’t wimp out of this opportunity. I’ve updated my Zion fire Flickr set with the new shots.

Gary Young’s pictures
Keith Ghormley’s shots

Plus, check out this beautiful picture by photographer Alyssa Shukar, taken at the wedding of Andrew & Bethany Hansen. It’s a lovely, lovely view of the new couple and, important after Saturday’s fire, Zion’s foyer.

Right around Livia’s bedtime last night, I saw John Russnogle (fellow Zion member) rounding the corner into our yard with a large ladder. Later when I asked Jeremy about his interaction with John, he told me that we’re storing the church ladder indefinitely.

And then it hit me. Our church building is really gone.

I fell asleep and woke up again to a slideshow of sorts in my brain. Images of the church building click on and off and I try to recall all the details I can. The slideshow didn’t let me fall back asleep after 5:30am, so I threw on some shoes and clothes and rounded the city block for what seems like the millionth time in the last few days.

The east wall gapes open, the shattered innards of the church exposed. A bright red Coleman cooler, part of it at least, is easily visible on the lawn. After a few minutes of peering intently, I realized I could see the bent frame of one of the refrigerators on the west side of the kitchen. Also easily visible from that perspective are the doors leading into the coffeehouse, so carefully and thoughtfully constructed a few years ago, and the door that led from the choir room to the worship hall.

With all three lanes of 9th Street open, for a time at least, I felt an incongruity between the devastation of the church and traffic on the street. For all of us, even those of us who are grieving, it’s Monday, the beginning of a new week. Still, I wonder how many folks can get back to life as usual while I can’t tear my eyes away from my much beloved, now burned church.

I am not without hope, but my heart is greatly grieved. There’s no way to bypass the grief part… so for now my tears will flow.

Keith’s Flickr pics.
Gary’s shots of the fire.
The Morehead’s have been snapping away.
Mine are in the same location as before.

A lot of my dear friends are blogging about the fire. I’ll update with more links later.

My big prayer request is this: Please pray that Livia begins to settle down and sleep at night. For an entire week now she’s been bucking it and Jeremy and I are almost completely worn out. Dealing with the church fire is more gut-wrenching and exhausting this morning simply because I haven’t slept enough. Thanks for your prayers.

I posted a set of photos on Flickr. I can’t yet bear to post a big one here. Perhaps I can do that tomorrow. I am still greatly grieved over the loss of this beautiful building where we got married and baptized Livia, where we rejoiced over many weddings and mourned at many funerals. Zion was the physical hub of our community.

The true hub remains in God’s people. A building has fallen; the Church stands strong.

Here is an email Stu sent out this afternoon. It is worth posting:

Friends of Zion,

As most of you know by now the Zion building at 9th and D was consumed by flames early this morning. The building is a total loss, but Zion remains strong and steadfast, ready to follow her Savior.

Sunday service will be held June 10 at 12 noon at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 12th and M Streets (downtown). We are deeply grateful for their kind offer of assistance! We have been receiving many such offers and can be truly grateful for the Body of Christ in Lincoln. Their hearts are truly with us.

As she looked on the smoltering building Verna Damm noted that it was really ‘hard to see the church in such disrepair.’ Then without skipping a beat she reminded us that ‘Jesus is still on the throne.’ It is right to grieve over the memories lost; the baptisms, the weddings, the funerals, and the fellowship hold special memories for us all. But what is most important cannot be taken away. We believe in an Amighty God and a powerful gospel of grace. God’s purpose for us has not changed at all. We are called to be transformed by Grace and poured out for others. He will be glorified. What is important will remain, what is not must be left behind.

Pastor Tobey reminded us this morning that the most horrific event in history, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, was the turning point of history and the key to our salvation. God is not caught off guard by tragedy, He plans it. And He will use it for His glory and our good, burning away the dross and forming the character of Christ in us.

Pray that:

• Jesus would be honored in all we say and do.
• We would be attentive to God’s leading, and ready to follow.
• The two firefighters who were injured putting out the fire would be healed.
• We would be even more focused on our mission to proclaim and live out the gospel of Grace.
• That Jesus would use our tragedy to draw together the body of Christ in Lincoln.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Stu Kerns

This is surreal.

I’ll upload photos and post more after I’ve gotten some lunch and some rest.

PS: All the houses on our block are fine. We’re fine. Two firefighters received minor injuries — please pray for them.

We’ve endured a few sleepless nights around our house this week due to a tantrum-y, unsleepy little girl. And let me tell you, it has been so not pleasant. Lack of sleep makes everything worse, in my opinion. It makes my third bout with strep tougher to fight (yes, I am on tougher antibiotics now, but still, argh!). It makes Jeremy’s sinus infection that much more exasperating. It makes the daily to-do list that much more tedious and I’m sure it makes it harder for Jeremy to last the day at work. Caffeine alone can only do so much!

Here’s where a little audience participation comes in… When was the last time you didn’t sleep during normal hours? Was it for something fun, or for something a little more, shall we say, challenging? How long have you lasted without sleep?

The only times I can remember having fun instead of sawing z’s was during a junior high New Year’s Eve all-nighter with the EFree youth group in town and during a lock-in with the old Covenant youth group when I was just getting to know my future husband. Other than that, I’ve always chosen to sleep at night. No all-nighters during college, not one. No extended sleepless nights after Liv was born; we adopted her at 7 weeks and she was only waking once in the night.

Like I said, this week has been not-so-pleasant in the sleep category.

Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment for me to read at 3am tonight.