A heightened sense of anticipation (or was there a touch of dread?) hung in the air all day. Today we had to get some things done, for tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow comes “The Demo Team,” that squad of mysterious masked volunteers who ride into town with shovels and axes and hammers (and rested backs!), ready to smash the strongest sheetrock, pulverize the peskiest paneling, mash the most macho mold. In short, they would be here to take on the toughest task and finish forever the foul and fiendish freeloaders lurking in and behind the walls of our humble abode.
So we had to finish our task. We had to clean out anything we wanted to keep. And we hadn’t even started on the kitchen. Could we do it? What would this day look like when w got done? No time to think about that now. Let’s get started!
Frantic work began in earnest in the kitchen. Nathan and April came to help. He and I set to work pulling out the last vestiges of Chris’ closet along with some cabinets. Then she had to go through that final rack of clothes and decide which were candidates for salvage. April and Chris boxed up dishes. We threw away wheelbarrow load after wheelbarrow load of stuff. We two-wheeled boxes and bags across the street to our temporary storage facility – Nathan’s garage. I remembered we had clothes due back at the cleaners. I do have a suit now, by the way. Woo Hoo! Now I really do have to find those zipper ties we saved. April, the Human Shredder, tore up page after page of wet documents. One more round of “How about this?” and “where does this go?” On and on.
But we didn’t finish. There are still documents to shred. There are still three table-loads of treasures to box up and move out. There’s still that one top shelf in the hall closet with the football game seat pads and vacuum cleaner attachments. We didn’t get done. It is NOT finished! And they’ll be here tomorrow. The Demo Team is supposed to be here at 8:45, and the SBA inspector is supposed to come at 8:30.
What’s it like to “be finished”? I always wonder if I’ll ever feel that sense of accomplishment that comes from a job done – well or otherwise. I guess that’s why I like to make lists – so I can cross things off it!
We learned today that sometimes it’s OK to not finish. Sometimes it’s OK to keep going, one more step. And you know why? It’s because we’re not alone in this life we’re living. And part of carrying out our task in life is doing it together. We live in relationship with people and with God. Everything we do gives us another opportunity to deepen relationships. It was great to work with Nathan and April. It was great to share taco salad with them at supper. It will be great to walk with them through this time of uncertainty. It will be even greater to be there with them when Cailyn is born.
In the very last line of the Book of Matthew (28:20), Jesus says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The end of the age. Is that the finish … or the beginning?
Father, thank you for walking with us through everything we face. Thank you for placing other people here – Holy Spirits with skin on – to walk with us as well. Forgive us when we should finish tasks and just don’t. Celebrate with us when we don’t finish the task we thought we were on, because what you really had in mind was for us to deepen a relationship or two in the process. Amen.
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