It was a perfect challenge for me… Tackle a too-long-neglected cupboard space and make it worthy of daily living…
Being a part of the refugee resettlement project has given us ample opportunities to embrace these challenges. We never know what condition the rental spaces will be in when they’re announced. All that can be guaranteed is that turnaround time is typically limited and that one can NEVER underestimate the generosity of others…
Scrubbing and contact-papering the cupboard shelves is probably my favorite go-to-task upon arrival. The obvious transformation is most rewarding to say the least. This past week, as I worked alone in the kitchen, I heard familiar voices coming from the front entrance.
Old friends and new acquaintances, I mistook Kay’s voice for Paula’s and Michele’s voice for Kathy’s… Or was that Ann?
Finally, I realized where my error was. I hadn’t heard A VOICE. I had heard KINDNESS.
Persons, from more walks of life than I am typically exposed to, all coming together because the CALL is too LOUD to ignore; the NEED too BIG to turn away.
This brought me back to the challenge at hand… filthy door handles that one would stick to!
Crumbling plaster …making the cupboard interior unsafe for storing food items or dishes and glasses that would hold items of consumption.
But in scrubbing, disinfecting, and de-gunking, I found the beauty that is always underneath the surface. That surface, often contaminated by whatever the environment throws at us, can get awful thick. Ugliness, which often presents as ‘hard fact’ …can truthfully be transformed with time, and loving attention.
The windows were another challenge. Blue-taped on the outside, probably to prevent draft, they were such an eyesore that no ‘pretty eyelet curtain’ was going to hide them. Again… dedication, commitment, and a little loving elbow grease (aka patience!) converted this disaster letting the sunshine in once again.
Whether it’s a cupboard, a window or a weary soul that’s been beaten up one too many times by the harshness of their world… with some attention and a little faith we can all find that there’s more than meets the eye… MIRACLES happen!