Repurpose

My son graduated from high school recently. Since he was homeschooled, we have used one of our bedrooms as a classroom until now. Over the years, it has morphed into a chaotic, catch-all space for my son’s projects and hobbies. Like a liquid which flows and takes on the form of its container, my son has a tendency to spread out into as much space and time that is available. This habit, combined with a typical teenager’s indifference to tidiness, has now become a problem for the rest of the family.

A good friend, who has adult children of her own, suggested the following idea. She said that I should repurpose the classroom now that homeschooling is over. ‘Paint it a feminine color’—she suggested. (As the only female in my household, this is a surefire way to define the space as my own.) With my husband’s support, I have decided it’s time to make a change. If the room remains as is, without any specific purpose, it will eventually get filled in with junk. So we are going to repurpose this room—convert it into ‘mom’s office.’ First we have to purge--this will involve sorting through 12 years’ worth of school papers. We will also have to move a lot of furniture and electronic gadgets. Some of it will have to be thrown away, and we will have to find space in some other part of the house for the stuff he wants to keep. Everything will have to be cleaned and organized. Then we get to redecorate, finding new furnishings and fixtures that will fit the new purpose of this room.

I think it’s a good idea to do some repurposing during transitional phases. Vacant spaces, without a specific purpose, are likely to get filled with undesirable odds and ends. There are several areas of my life that need purging, cleaning, and reordering. However, I shall leave this repurposing to the Greatest Interior Designer.

Holy Spirit,--clean, sort, change, and renew me, according to Your Purposes.