Building Bookcases

Written by: Rachel Rothenberg, Sixth Presbyterian Church Confirmation Class

In April, members of the confirmation class (myself included) of Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill organized a mission trip at East End Cooperative Ministry to build bookshelves for children. Our goal was to do as many as possible, and it naturally seemed like a feat too daunting for mortals.

“But I’m horrible at hardware!” I groaned in the back of the car on the way over.

My mother looked at me. “Big deal, so is everyone.”

However, I soon learned that with motivation—and a Phillips head screwdriver—anything can be achieved. Between the group of us, we managed to assemble—from scratch—eight bookshelves in a little less than an hour. Although we had some trouble (such as building one backwards and having to take it down and rebuild it from the bottom up) we somehow managed to achieve what my mother predicted would take three hours.

How did this happen? Now, weeks later, thinking it over, I still don’t know. Was it the power of teamwork? Sure, that had something to do with it. Or the knowledge that lunch was waiting for us as soon as we were finished. Sure, that was also probably true. But I like to think that there was something more to it. I think that we were honestly trying to help the children that were going to get these shelves, children who had never really ever seen a book before. As we finished up our last bookshelf, one of my friends turned to me and said, “Let’s sign our names—I want whoever gets this shelf to know that I’m rooting for them.” That’s really a beautiful sentiment. And as I grow to know God and come to the end of my confirmation journey, I’m glad that I’ve rooted for someone.