spring cleaning

it felt surpisingly satisfying to make major headway in re-arranging the offices at the church over the last couple of days. cleared out a large project workspace, another room that can serve as a meeting room, and set up a multi-purpose office. over the last few years, the office space had to accomadate about 50% more staff than it was designed to handle. When most of the staff was finally able to relocate to the ann arbor offices a year ago, must of the stuff stayed behind. the end result was clutter and chaos that we slowly became oblivious to.



wendy and i emptied the offices of about 5 car loads of obsolete equipment, useless books, outdated files, and dilapidated furniture. strangly, it was an emotional experience for me. i came across projects and equipment from my first days on the church staff as youth pastor and business manager. felt exhilirating to shot put into the dumpster an old compaq computer that had cost me tens of hours on hold with technical support trying to fix, all to no avail. somehow, it had stuck around in closets for 8 years before meeting it's end today. got choked up seeing the names and photos of volunteer youth leaders who pioneered the youth ministry with me, and of students who are now helping lead the youth ministry. almost lost my resolve to pitch stuff. persevered though, and only kept stuff that evokes especially significant memories, or still retains practical usefulness. the "clean sweep" team would've been proud.



lots of actual cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, etc.) and arranging yet do, but it feels invigorating to have some breathing room. sort of how the spring warmth is feeling now after a long winter. seems like an appropriate, if mundane, way to celebrate easter week. wendy's pretty artistic, so maybe she'll have a chance to add some personal touch to the space, too.



final note: developments today lead me to believe i may have some good news to report on an important project in the next few weeks. nothing confirmed yet, but when (and if) i have more to report, i'll let you know.