Yesterday afternoon I took a bus out to our local Swedish furniture (etc.) store in order to select and order new bookcases for my home-office ready for when my books are shifted from church in (eek!) less than two weeks' time.

It's been a strange thing, identifying what I need, what I would like, what will fit, and what my budget will permit.  I have been very humbled by a generous financial gift from another minister that allowed me to have "what I would like" (because it matches my desk!) rather than what I could afford (which doesn't).

It has also involved me in counting - or at least estimating - the number of books I have, which, it has to be admitted, comes to a rather scary total.  Somewhere in the region to 2000 - 2500 I think.  At some stage there will need to be a book cull - weed out the duplicates, pass on or sell those I'll never open again (or even open for the first time), review why I keep those that are purely sentimental (whether that's a Hayne's manual for an Austin metro, Enid Blyton school stories, or a book of Bible quizzes from yester year).  But for now, it's more a matter of getting the room ready to receive the bookcases (hopefully freecycling some furniture I no longer need) and counting my many blessings...

• The blessing of books
• The blessing of the ability to read
• The blessing of choice
• The blessing of a safe, warm, dry place to work
• The blessing of generous friends
• The blessing of education
• The blessing of counting

Surely, I can count myself richly blessed.