The Expedit Shelf

To say that getting our new shelf here was a bit of project would be a gross understatement. I talked with our friend Cheryl about it 10 or 15 times. And that doesn't count the lengthy decision making process with Brad!

I finally got to Ikea. Cheryl met me there with two of her children and her Yukon. I knew I needed help hauling the shelf home but I forgot that it would have been impossible to wheel through check out and then to the car without someone watching David and Will.

There was the racing up I-95 in a torrential downpour to get Cheryl's oldest from school. Scary. Luckily we made it. Cheryl's son couldn't fit in his car (wonder why?) so he smashed between my boys and kept us company on the way up. I liked being able to have a conversation with someone else in the car!

There was the bringing three boxes (200 lbs total--but it felt like more) into our apartment in the torrential downpour all while making sure five kids didn't do anything too dangerous. It literally took Cheryl half a day to help me. Wow. Thank you just doesn't cut it.

Then there was Jenna and her rubber mallet.

Jenna had just spent painstaking hours putting the same shelf together with her husband Chris. They realized that they really needed a rubber mallet. Well I'm sorry to tell Chris that with Jenna and the mallet we put the thing together in about an hour or so. She didn't even need to read the directions! This is what I call visiting teaching in the trenches. Thanks Jenna.

Jenna and the finished product.

Two special people reminded me about serving others. Thank you Cheryl and Jenna for your example and for my shelf. We'll enjoy it for a long time to come.