Talk With the Preacher

Written 3/4/07

I’m not saying I’m ready to try out for HGTV’s Design Star . . . or legally change my name to Bob Vila or anything like that, but I feel confident in my declaration that I have redeemed myself after what I like to call (now that I have calmed down and repainted the walls, that is): “the paint debacle”.

See, our bathroom has always been white. White tub, white tile, white floor, white walls, white vanity . . . white, white, white. (Paint splotches indicate renovation efforts were already underway when these “before” pictures were taken.)

It wasn’t that the white was bad; in fact, it looked nice and clean (if a tad institutional). It was fine, really.

Over the past four years of living in our house I have occasionally walked past the bathroom and had the passing thought . . . “Hmmmm, I’ll bet some color on the walls would look really good in here.” But passing thoughts were all they were, as life did not allow time for such frivolous activities as redoing the bathroom.

Lately a couple of circumstances overlapped, including some time off of work and a friend mentioning offhand, “That shower curtain could really use some updating” (I mean, I’m not what I would call an interior designer by any stretch of the imagination, but that shower curtain has always looked perfectly fine to me, for all the 15 years I have owned it).

And so, with the convergence of these various factors I am proud to announce . . . a fledgling design star was born.

(That would be me.)

Finishing the project took three tries on the paint color, about a week of sporadic work, and one trip to IKEA with my super stylish friend, Carol (who successfully steered me away from some very bad choices and managed at the same time to make me feel like I had some taste myself—she’s really good about that).

And, if I do say so myself, it looks fabulous!

I did it all myself.

Kind of.

Well, now that I think about it, I did have to ask for help once I got the lighting fixture installed and it didn’t work (thanks, Mark).

And Hannah, my trusty assistant, removed all the faceplates and towel racks, then reinstalled them—by herself!

Sam consulted on the final placement of wall hangings and also helped me hook up the new (and very updated, if you ask me) shower curtain.

Hayden came upstairs about once a day to say profound things like, “Looks good, Mom” which was, if you think about it, a way of being helpful.

But, may I say, I hung the shade. USING A DRILL. I am so proud. I now will officially consider any mention of the need for updating in my house as a challenge of the highest order, and continue to explore my career options as they relate to design and home improvement.

And then I will wake up and get back to real life.

(Please note: No paint was spilled in the remodel of this bathroom.)

Written 2/25/07

In my free time, which I actually have a little bit of right now, I am reading a book given to me for my birthday . . . by my sister-in-law, Anna, who knows how much I love getting lost in Adriana Trigiani’s books.

A word of profundity from her latest, Home to Big Stone Gap:

“Truth be told, she was humiliated. She couldn’t believe a preacher would actually have the guts to say anything to her about her private life.

‘For the record, Otto’s the one who’s afraid of heaven and hell.’

‘Is he going to be baptized?’

‘Oh, yeah, I’m buying front-row seats to that shindig. Wait till you see old Otto dunked in the Powell River like an old tire. That right there is reason number one I leave my donated cans on the porch when the Methodists come collectin’. I don’t need to be saved, I have no interest in it. Here’s a tip for you: never get into a conversation with a preacher on a weekday. It starts out as idle chitchat, then next thing you know, they got you volunteering to do God knows what and agreeing to things you’re dead set against.’”

How did she know??!?

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

It was evening and the weather was taking a turn for the worse . . .

Day was waning as the rain beat against the window panes . . .

Couldn’t see without headlights and needed a raincoat . . .

The dusk crept in over the hills and brought angry clouds as traveling companions . . .

It wasn’t that I haven’t been writing during this time away from church. It was really two things: I connect with a lot of you through this blog and I knew if I didn’t stop publishing I wouldn’t really get away. Second, I find it harder to write consistently when I don’t have a sermon to procrastinate about.

Nevertheless, I did write some while away and am anxious to get back to church, to the blog, to ministry. So, for the next few days in anticipation of returning to worship April 1, I’ll publish some random thoughts from this time of Holy Pause.

So glad to be back and looking forward to Holy Week . . . !