Since I got home from renewal leave I’ve been cleaning and tidying, both at home and at Trinity. I’ve taken 5 car-fulls of stuff to the thrift store over the past 4 months. The acolyte closet can actually be accessed without tripping over stuff on the way to the robes. The memorial room no longer has 1,000 broken coffee pots stacked in a pile behind the couch. The worship closet is organized by vase size and candles are kept on a separate shelf which can hold them all now that the burnt out and melted blobs are gone. The workroom, narthex, and hallway at church are all spic and span as well. The reason for all this tidying, and the organization and paring of the dining room, living room, and kitchen at the SFC house is to make hospitable, usable spaces.
When people walk into SFC or to Trinity our space immediately begins to tell our story. Trinity is a vibrant, welcoming community, but the clutter and outdated narthex didn’t reflect that. With so much stuff accumulated in the SFC kitchen cupboards, items often overflowed on to the counter. The message we were sending was that there wasn’t room for people, so getting rid of the casserole dishes I haven’t used in the 16 years we’ve been married made sense. Now everything fits and folks have plenty of space to prep their dishes.
Another nice thing about all this work is that it gives me a brain break from the administrative tasks that have made up my fall work load. I also get a nice sense of accomplishment when I walk into the workroom and see how lovely it all looks.
The story we tell comes from more than the words we say or the actions we take, our buildings and spaces add to the narrative too, so we’ll keep on making room and creating a sense of welcome and warmth in the places we gather.
-Eilidh
This teal recycling bin makes me smile every time I make a copy
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