By SELINA VENIER
LONG have I thought the Lord God has an indescribable sense of humour.
There’ve been so many quirky happenings, things He and I could only appreciate, leaving me smiling and amused.
Take my last column. I enjoyed sharing about my wish list for Advent, all centred on a good physical and spiritual declutter.
My hopes were entirely true and continue. But the Lord God, who’s always at least 84 steps ahead, had an extended plan for my declutterisation.
I almost felt as though He said, “Just when she thinks she knows it all, I’ll plan a thing or two and see how she fares, ha ha ha.”
Enter My Dearly Beloved, whom the Lord needed to have a good laugh. The man is a walking wish list of things to do.
I’ve written before that just looking at him sometimes makes me tired. So My Dearly Beloved announced an Advent weekend of painting skirtings, interior doors and doorframes – a job we’d been putting off since repainting everything else that doesn’t move inside the home.
The fact of the matter was however it wasn’t going to be a simple Advent declutter this year. It was a declutterisation to end all declutterisations.
Anyone who paints skirtings in a house already occupied knows everything in the room needs to be moved away from the walls. Anyone who paints skirtings would also know every bit of dust and dirt having accumulated in every nook and cranny in the vicinity of said skirtings needs to be suctioned well into tomorrow.
And so we set out room by room to move and clean. The Misses, aged 10 and 12, were roped in too, much to their indescribable delight. Everyone was really feeling the Advent joy.
Master Six Months never received so much attention in a bid to avoid the moving and cleaning, thanks be to God for breastfeeding on my part. But no matter how much we tried, the dust and the paint waited. Halfway through Day One some progress had been made but the mess was indescribable.
I admit to not coping particularly well with disorder, hence my penchant to declutter in the first place. Throw in a needy baby, the paint fumes and a reasonably humid day and it’s not difficult to imagine my head was spinning. Still, persist we did.
The reward at the end of the day was sitting in the Vigil Mass and appreciating every moment more than ever, my emphasis on the sitting. The taste of the pizza shared afterwards as we moved to my mother’s house for the night, away from fumes and mess, was also indescribable.
Day two loomed and progress was made bit by bit. Yes, Lord, also a lesson in learning not only greater patience but commitment, thank you, I thought. The day ended with the task almost at completion and a sense of having made certain improvements. Now, two weeks later, we are reaping the benefits. Renovations are on track and the declutter to end all declutters has new meaning as it also meant the house had a certain Advent sparkle.
Speaking of declutter and sparkle, you would likely realise The Catholic Leader has recently gone through its own set of renovations. They too set out to improve a worthy product in need of new paintwork. They reached into corners where dust and cobwebs had perhaps settled and remained.
They have sought to follow the Lord’s guidance and wisdom and importantly, the voices of you, their readers. I hope you will agree the result is more than sparkling skirtings, doors and doorframes. But this result before you goes much deeper.
It offers a change to the way you hear and read about matters relating to faith in God, reaching out to new and younger readers too. Setting out to improve anything requires commitment, patience and energy.
The Catholic Leader has existed for 84 years and today’s renovations will hopefully be a springboard into the next indescribable 80 plus.
