Stocking-footed Church Goers
This morning when Hiromi and I stepped inside the church entrance and added our shoes to the collection already there, Hiromi said, "I feel right at home." He was referring to years of having done that in Japan--removing his shoes upon entering a building.
Has our church gone Eastern?
Hardly.
The 50-year old gray-tiled floors had just been refinished, and the wax needed additional curing before it could tolerate regular foot traffic. So this morning we got a call saying that everyone should plan on wearing only socks in the sanctuary part of the building or have their shoes thoroughly cleaned after they arrive. Harold, who is a trustee, was on duty as people arrived, rag and water bucket in hand.
The scene struck me funny several times this morning. People padded very flat-footedly to their Sunday School classes, and everyone glided silently up the aisles to take their places on the pews. People looked short. The visiting preacher told, tongue-in-cheek, about having gotten cold feet, and contemplating just going home instead of preaching.
Some people had planned ahead better than others of us did. I saw one lady who wore dark red socks precisely matching the color of her dress. Fuzzy footsies, knitted slippers, and sturdy socks all made an appearance. After a chilly Sunday School class experience in regular nylons I accepted an offer of socks from Grace, who had left home without getting the message and then called home and asked someone there to bring a bunch of socks. I picked out fuzzy white ones.
I suspected that this kind of service would not be likely to ever happen in most Beachy churches--maybe because the floor cleaning would be more perfectly coordinated with the church schedule otherwise, or maybe because that kind of unconventionality could hardly be accommodated.
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Shoe sole "tread" and the river sand/gravel that most rural roadways, driveways, and parking lots here are surfaced with are a punishing combination for floors. Tiny pebbles get wedged in shoe soles and grind away on the floor finish at every step, or lose their moorings and get ground underfoot by anyone whose footstep finds them. A refinish every six months to a year is necessary to keep the flooring from deteriorating. Squeezing in the work-and-curing time when the building is used for both school and church is quite a challenge.
**************************
Our visiting minister this morning was Dan Miller, who is here from Indiana with his wife Mary Ann. They are spending six weeks here, under the auspices of CASP (Conservative Anabaptist Service Program). Dan directs the work crews of young men who have volunteered to help in renovating housing for needy people in Hutchinson. They work for Interfaith Housing, a local organization that has been in operation for some time. Mary Ann is chief cook and housemother. Lorne and Grace, a local couple, help along--he as "chaplain," and she as assistant cook and housemother. (I'm not sure what their official titles are.)
They all live together at Marvin and Lois' Cottonwood Lane residence.
My father and others are still looking for a couple to take Dan and Mary Ann's place in about four weeks. They would need to be available for six weeks. If you know of a man who can direct a construction crew who has a wife who can cook--both of whom have a servant's heart and are free to leave home for a time--urge them to apply for a job in Kansas. Contact my dad at (620) 567-2376. I think a few more young men are also needed four weeks from now.
*************************
My Uncle Edwin was the unfortunate victim of a snafu last Sunday morning when he got ready for church as usual and no one came to pick him up.
Hiromi and LaVerne usually take turns doing so. When LaVerne left for Thailand, he asked Edwin's brother-in-law to take his turn. He happily agreed. But near the end of the week, Ollie's son-in-law's grandmother died, and Ollie went to the funeral in Garnet--understandably not remembering his plans to pick up Edwin.
Hiromi didn't go either, since it wasn't his turn and he didn't know Ollies were in eastern Kansas. Sometime near the end of the service, Hiromi got a foreboding sense that not all was as it should be when he realized that he had not seen Edwin or Ollie.
Ollie called here this morning before church to offer to make up for his missed turn. Everyone feels bad about the oversight, and, I suspect, will make extra effort to see that it does not happen again.
Hiromi is impressed with Edwin's "reader," which apparently consists of some kind of hookup between a scanner and a screen--an arrangement that magnifies text to a size that can more easily be read by people whose eyesight is no longer keen.
Edwin likes to read, and, now in his upper eighties, is still well-informed and articulate--as much so as his Parkinson's Disease allows.
************************
It looks like there may be a move in our future some time this year. Our tenants are thinking of moving, and, with our household having shrunk significantly, we think we should consider squeezing back into the house on Trail West road again. I like that place, but I rather dread the moving process, and I'm not sure how well I'm prepared to handle the necessary down-sizing, and having to abandon again a place we have invested in emotionally, and stamped with our labor and nurturing efforts.
Having had whole house air conditioning last year for the first time ever has me reluctant to do without again. My kitchen here is much more spacious than the one there. I like the front porch here, and the roominess in general. The cozy wood stove and the good water are advantages at Trail West, and, since we own the place, any changes we make are ours to benefit from as long as we live, hopefully.
All of this reminds me that having an ideal forever-home is one of the good things to look forward to in heaven. Meanwhile, with enough time, I'm sure I'll find a lot to be grateful for wherever I live.
Has our church gone Eastern?
Hardly.
The 50-year old gray-tiled floors had just been refinished, and the wax needed additional curing before it could tolerate regular foot traffic. So this morning we got a call saying that everyone should plan on wearing only socks in the sanctuary part of the building or have their shoes thoroughly cleaned after they arrive. Harold, who is a trustee, was on duty as people arrived, rag and water bucket in hand.
The scene struck me funny several times this morning. People padded very flat-footedly to their Sunday School classes, and everyone glided silently up the aisles to take their places on the pews. People looked short. The visiting preacher told, tongue-in-cheek, about having gotten cold feet, and contemplating just going home instead of preaching.
Some people had planned ahead better than others of us did. I saw one lady who wore dark red socks precisely matching the color of her dress. Fuzzy footsies, knitted slippers, and sturdy socks all made an appearance. After a chilly Sunday School class experience in regular nylons I accepted an offer of socks from Grace, who had left home without getting the message and then called home and asked someone there to bring a bunch of socks. I picked out fuzzy white ones.
I suspected that this kind of service would not be likely to ever happen in most Beachy churches--maybe because the floor cleaning would be more perfectly coordinated with the church schedule otherwise, or maybe because that kind of unconventionality could hardly be accommodated.
**************************
Shoe sole "tread" and the river sand/gravel that most rural roadways, driveways, and parking lots here are surfaced with are a punishing combination for floors. Tiny pebbles get wedged in shoe soles and grind away on the floor finish at every step, or lose their moorings and get ground underfoot by anyone whose footstep finds them. A refinish every six months to a year is necessary to keep the flooring from deteriorating. Squeezing in the work-and-curing time when the building is used for both school and church is quite a challenge.
**************************
Our visiting minister this morning was Dan Miller, who is here from Indiana with his wife Mary Ann. They are spending six weeks here, under the auspices of CASP (Conservative Anabaptist Service Program). Dan directs the work crews of young men who have volunteered to help in renovating housing for needy people in Hutchinson. They work for Interfaith Housing, a local organization that has been in operation for some time. Mary Ann is chief cook and housemother. Lorne and Grace, a local couple, help along--he as "chaplain," and she as assistant cook and housemother. (I'm not sure what their official titles are.)
They all live together at Marvin and Lois' Cottonwood Lane residence.
My father and others are still looking for a couple to take Dan and Mary Ann's place in about four weeks. They would need to be available for six weeks. If you know of a man who can direct a construction crew who has a wife who can cook--both of whom have a servant's heart and are free to leave home for a time--urge them to apply for a job in Kansas. Contact my dad at (620) 567-2376. I think a few more young men are also needed four weeks from now.
*************************
My Uncle Edwin was the unfortunate victim of a snafu last Sunday morning when he got ready for church as usual and no one came to pick him up.
Hiromi and LaVerne usually take turns doing so. When LaVerne left for Thailand, he asked Edwin's brother-in-law to take his turn. He happily agreed. But near the end of the week, Ollie's son-in-law's grandmother died, and Ollie went to the funeral in Garnet--understandably not remembering his plans to pick up Edwin.
Hiromi didn't go either, since it wasn't his turn and he didn't know Ollies were in eastern Kansas. Sometime near the end of the service, Hiromi got a foreboding sense that not all was as it should be when he realized that he had not seen Edwin or Ollie.
Ollie called here this morning before church to offer to make up for his missed turn. Everyone feels bad about the oversight, and, I suspect, will make extra effort to see that it does not happen again.
Hiromi is impressed with Edwin's "reader," which apparently consists of some kind of hookup between a scanner and a screen--an arrangement that magnifies text to a size that can more easily be read by people whose eyesight is no longer keen.
Edwin likes to read, and, now in his upper eighties, is still well-informed and articulate--as much so as his Parkinson's Disease allows.
************************
It looks like there may be a move in our future some time this year. Our tenants are thinking of moving, and, with our household having shrunk significantly, we think we should consider squeezing back into the house on Trail West road again. I like that place, but I rather dread the moving process, and I'm not sure how well I'm prepared to handle the necessary down-sizing, and having to abandon again a place we have invested in emotionally, and stamped with our labor and nurturing efforts.
Having had whole house air conditioning last year for the first time ever has me reluctant to do without again. My kitchen here is much more spacious than the one there. I like the front porch here, and the roominess in general. The cozy wood stove and the good water are advantages at Trail West, and, since we own the place, any changes we make are ours to benefit from as long as we live, hopefully.
All of this reminds me that having an ideal forever-home is one of the good things to look forward to in heaven. Meanwhile, with enough time, I'm sure I'll find a lot to be grateful for wherever I live.
posted by Mrs. I at
2:05 PM
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