I had an exhausting few days this week. For my family room and kitchen, I made all new curtains, new pillows, and I repurposed or discarded items that I was hanging on to. While I kept the “me” in my house, there is a new focus and style…at least a new look. I came downstairs the next morning while the sun was struggling to squeeze up, and an entirely new atmosphere and light had settled within the room. I hadn’t even turned the lights on yet, but I felt so different…a good different.
After my husband passed away, I began a frenzied cycle of creating new things – knitting blankets, making pillows, designing and making costumes, sewing new curtains, working on embroidery projects – I guess I was trying to create an atmosphere that was brand new but still exactly the same. I wanted new things that still had old memories, or to keep old things and still attach new memories. I began a very dangerous habit: Amazon now has my credit card info. Excuse me, but I do believe I just heard a few chuckles of experience out there.
As more months have come and gone, so has my proclivity to self-soothe (sorry, Amazon). But I still need and want change (inexpensively). So, I moved a chair in my family room. Then I took down some paintings and changed out the curtains that had been cleaned years ago and were still in the closet. It was better but not finished. I finally went down to the basement and the very back of some cabinets, and I pulled out some treasures that had been buried for years. I had saved them “just in case.” After refreshing some things and rearranging others, the whole room looked brand new. I felt renewed. There is a scripture that says “Therefore we do not lose heart, though the outer man is decaying, the inner man is being renewed day by day.” – 1 Corinthians 4:16. We may have the same basic outline, the same “bones”, but treasures that have been buried deep within are finally ready to rise to the surface. That’s not only true for the buried items in my basement, but if we allow them, the buried treasures in our heart and very being come out at the perfect time. The original design remains, but the deep potential that was being prepared can finally come through.
What do we do with that? What have we been preparing and training for? Today. We have been training and preparing for the stresses and problems of the day; not necessarily the pandemic and other global issues, but our own issues. We never really know what’s down the road, so we need to assess “today” frequently. Matthew 6:34 says ”Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
So, what are we assessing? How about our sense of expectation? Or flexibility? Rather than allowing complacency or apathy to slowly close their gnarled fingers around us, we can refresh ourselves from within. Nothing is wrong with resting a bit where we land and enjoying the silence; we should. But the concept of rest is meant to be temporary so that we can be renewed for what’s next. I like that. There will always be something next, even in this pandemic and isolation.
Moving a chair, which is used as a place to rest, is a first step in getting ready for tomorrow. Changing and refreshing a few decorations changes what and how we see the same room. I still feel surprised and somewhat awakened when I see the new light in the room every morning. It makes me look and focus longer. It makes me thankful and able to
Dance on.
Grace Notes 