Painting the Kitchen
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Change is happening all around us, to us, and within us all the time. Consider how you embrace change and how you learn to accept the gifts it brings.
And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
— Dr. Seuss
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
— Socrates
2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Food for Thought
I was sitting on my backyard deck with my husband, tossing balls to my dog on an evening in late August, air unseasonably cool. “It feels like fall is coming,” I said, before heading in for a sweater.
Already the willow tree in my side yard was dropping leaves. Already the dogwood’s coloring had shifted from the fresh green of summer to a pinkish fall hue.
Fall has always been my favorite season — “Jacket weather,” we called it when I was growing up. Football games on Friday nights, leaf raking, back to school excitement, a chance for new opportunities, new friends, a fresh look at things.
Like most change, though, fall doesn’t come without a feeling of loss. Summer beach trips are now a memory; tomato sandwiches are gone until next summer; with school comes homework and too much busyness.
I’d come out to the deck that August afternoon to relax and celebrate after putting the final touches on my end of summer project: painting the kitchen. Early in the month, I’d decided it was time to get rid of the red walls that were stunning when my sister and I painted them thirteen years ago, but now look outdated and tired. “Hire it out,” said my husband, my son, my sister, and practically everybody in my life.
But, no, I said. I can do it. I will do it. I’ve always loved wall painting, and modestly, I think I’m good at it. I prep the walls carefully before I begin. I have a steady hand along the edges, I fine-tune with an artist’s brush. Plus, and maybe most important, I love the transformation that comes with painted walls.
And so, I got started. Pictures came down, holes were dapped, walls wiped down with a rag, baseboards dusted. We chose our new color—soft gray—and I went to work. I was driven by my vision for the new kitchen—a fresh, light tone which would brighten the room, new, modern fixtures to replace the outdated ones, new knobs on cabinets, and uncluttered counter space.
But change is hard. Life intervened, as life has a way of doing, and I didn’t have the time I expected I’d have to get it done. One week became two became three, and the house was a wreck of paint cans, brushes, the ladder, drop cloths, and more. I grew tired of the work, and my vision faded. “Why didn’t I hire this out?” I lamented to myself. Sure, I could have hired someone to finish it, but I was so far into it that I wanted to see it through.
Change is our only constant. I’ve heard that all my life. Things constantly need an upgrade, from buildings to attitudes to lifestyles. Technology advances happen at the speed of light and few of us can keep up. Attitudes shift, both personally and nationally. We look up one day and we wonder, “How did we get here?” Only when we look back can we begin to understand what got us here instead of there—choices made, subtle shifts, seismic shifts, a simple drop in a bucket, a single blink of an eye. Sometimes we ask for it; other times we avoid it. Sometimes we welcome it; sometimes it knocks us off our feet.
Sometimes all we can do during times of change is hang on tight, knowing that, as we read in Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Our weeping might last for a month or a year or longer. But what we are promised, what God gave us on the other side of change, is joy.
My new kitchen—if I do say so myself—is gorgeous. Fall in all its splendor is beginning to surround us. Nothing lasts forever, and eventually my kitchen will begin to feel old, and we’ll find ourselves in the middle of another paint job. But for now, we bask in everything new as we hang on to all that won’t change for just a little while, or so we hope, knowing that no matter how we fight it, or how long it takes, change will happen. And joy will come. Joy cometh. That is the only vision we really need.
On a sticky note write, “Joy comes in the morning.” Place this note in a place where it can be a reminder and a source of hope to you in the midst of difficult seasons of change.
Is there something in your home or life in need of some creative renewal? Is there a room that needs painting? Do you have a wall where you want to add new art? Could the cover of your journal or planner use some inspiration? Take some time this week or over the next few weeks to invest in this kind of change and see how that change brings joy to your life.
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
Creator God,
You built change into the world you gave us—the shift of seasons, resurrection, growth, death, new life. You didn’t promise it would be easy, but you did promise joy. Help us to hold onto hope when change seems difficult. Open our eyes to renewal and beauty and possibility. Help us to remember that your love is unchanging and your grace lives in all things, including us.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Consider a time when you faced significant change. How did that time shape you?
Share a memory of a decision you made that changed everything for you. In looking back, what has come from that change that you never expected? What other gifts did you receive?
Discuss together how you have changed from the person you were last month, last year, five years ago. How do you see change in others?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Go for a walk with the children in your life and look for signs of seasonal change. Find colorful leaves, flowers putting out seed pods to prepare for another year, grass growing browner, birds leaving your feeders as they head toward a warmer climate.
Talk with your kiddos about how they have changed from when they were younger or how they think they might change as they get older. What about these changes is exciting? What seems a little scary or unsettling?
Find fun and creative ways to celebrate change: try new adventures you couldn’t have in a different season. Mark new occasions with a cone of ice-cream or a visit to a park. Light a candle to connect the old to the new.
Meet our Welcoming Voice!
After living in different states on the east coast for 15 years, Barbara Presnell returned to her native North Carolina and now lives 30 minutes from the place of her birth. She has spent her career teaching others—from kindergarteners to college students—how to find their voices and write their own stories. She’s published five books of poetry, and her memoir, Otherwise, I’m Fine, the story of overcoming the lifelong grief that followed the early and unexpected death of her father, is due out from the University of South Carolina Press in Spring 2025.
To hear more from Barbara throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
Here are Five Things to Remember When Setting Your Own Welcome Table!