Me and the Sky and a Desk Drawer Makeover

I woke up this morning feeling a kinship with the sky. Although the sun managed to peek through the dark clouds here and there, a veil of grey appeared resolute to keep the sun in hiding. I wanted to stay in bed. Not move. Pretend that closing my eyes under warm, cozy covers would make everything OK.

I gave myself permission to do what I needed to do, be it stay in bed or get up and do something. Anything. Thinking through my options, I decided that I would feel worse if the day ended and I hadn’t accomplished a thing and better if I could at least check a couple of to-dos off the list.

First, brush your teeth. Check.

Next, I looked at my agenda for the day and pared it down to a minimum. Just the things that I know are good for my soul.

The temptation was to rush out and shop or go work out or move away from how I was feeling. Instead, I listened to the voice deep within that knew what I really needed -- the gift of quiet stillness. Space to just be sad. Or anxious. Or whatever else came up.

I listened to Psalm 116 on my Bible app a couple of times and wondered if maybe there’d been a Back to the Future scenario where the writer had traveled forward in time, read my mind, and returned to his place in history to pen this psalm. “…I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’”

I pulled out my journal and wrote pages, not paragraphs. There was a lot to process. It was a hard week emotionally.

After unloading some of the heaviness onto my journal pages, I went downstairs to the kitchen. The slow but steady momentum lead me from one thing to the next, and soon the dishes and laundry were done. There is comfort in doing the simple things and knowing God is in it all. Laying the last of the dishes onto the draining cloth, I resonated with Brother Lawrence, a Christian monastic who lived during the 1600s. “Lord of all pots and pans and things…make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates.”

By this evening, I had tidied up the house, worked out on my Pilates reformer, gotten groceries, and whipped up a fresh loaf of banana bread and a tangy herbed farro salad for lunches tomorrow. And my prize accomplishment – organizing a desk drawer that would have sent Marie Kondo running for backup. It appears that this drawer is where all manner of technology cords and chargers and every conceivable variety of writing utensil goes to live and reproduce. Tonight, after some heavy-duty sorting and purging, the situation is under control.

Lord, thank you for being present—always, but especially on grey days like today. Thank you for the energy to get out of bed and brush my teeth. Thank you for the joy of simple things -- groceries, clean clothes, warm banana bread….and the satisfaction of a successful desk drawer makeover.  Amen.