Visions and Dreams

Last week was A WEEK! Moving into the new church space in time for Holy Week and Easter was a blessing beyond measure. But, there was A LOT  of work to do behind the scenes, going forward, to organize and personalize the spaces within the new church to ensure functionality. I took on the task of cleaning out what had been used as a former storage closet off of the chancel and transforming it into a clean and well ordered Sacristy and Robing Room for the acolytes, crucifer and service assistants. As you can see in the before and after photos, above, the transformation has taken place. I had shared my vision for this space with Mr. Goodneedle, he fully understood what I wanted. After this 100 year old room was completely cleaned out, he insisted on completely painting the room, including the ceiling, before he was willing to put up the shelving. He took on that task as his own. In the meantime several of us occupied ourselves with cleaning out other areas and finding places that made sense for storage of everything that remained in the building. It was a long and back-breaking few days... but, it's DONE!

This room is an absolute JOY to work in now; just look at the glorious resurrection window!

This space is now neat and organized with a clear space to prepare communion and lots of room for the young people to locate their robes and get themselves ready before worship; we even installed a full length mirror (that was found in a storage area downstairs) behind the door to assist them in that effort. 

The Fellowship Hall received the full treatment last week too! Furniture was moved and repurposed; window treatments were removed, tablecloths were laundered and stored, adjacent closets were cleaned out and organized. This space was transformed into a brighter, lighter (and appearing larger!) gathering room for all to enjoy. 

In my last post I mentioned dreaming about tulips blooming everywhere outside the church. After I awakened from that dream I remembered the children's book, Miss Fannie's Hat, by Jan Karon. In my dream, tulips took the place of the roses from the story. I pulled my copy off the shelf and realized why this may have come to mind in my dream state, the illustrated church building is very similar in appearance to ours!

Yesterday these flowers arrived, brought by a member, to grace our chancel space for worship;

I told her that just seeing those tulips were, for me, quite literally, a dream come true!

Life is Good!