Today was the day that our church canceled all normal meetings for the purpose of going out into the world and putting our faith in God in action by giving of ourselves to help meet the needs of others. The church chose 6 different locations that had a real need for work to be done.
I chose to join a group that would be working at a local group home for foster children. There was a ton of work to do and a ton of people there to work. I knew before I even arrived that I would be painting walls. Working outside was not an option for me. Let the others plant flowers, cut grass, and carry logs. I will paint walls.
There were lots of walls to be painted.
Luckily, there were lots of people who, just like me, love to paint walls.
There were 6 bedrooms plus one common room that needed to be painted. Space did not really allow for the furniture in the rooms to be removed. The rooms were fairly tiny, so maneuvering around the furniture was pretty darn amusing. In the end, though, the rooms were all painted. The job was not nearly as good as it could have been had there been more time for completing the project. In truth, we needed 2 to 3 days in order to do it right. The walls needed to be scraped and washed before they were painted. There just wasn't enough hours in the day for that to be done. Instead we scraped off the tape and other random bits of stuff that kids like to stick onto the walls. Then we commenced the painting.
Honestly, with so many people trying to coordinate to accomplish a single goal, I was impressed that things went as smoothly as they did. Everybody found a job to do and got busy. It was awesome.
In the end, I had to leave before all the rooms were finished. They were "mostly" finished before I left. Each room was in its own degree of completion, and painters were diligently applying themselves - and their brushes - to the task of getting those walls covered. I was sorry to have to leave early, but the migraine was on its way. There's a time limit from the start of that headache to the time that I need to medicate myself in order to prevent complete and total misery from descending upon me for hours. So I left in search of medication and a bed to lay down and rest upon.
I have no doubt that in my absence the rooms still managed to get completely and properly painted. I just wish I could go back tomorrow and see how it looks with everything finished.
Mostly, though, I just thoroughly enjoyed the day. This is how the world should be.
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