The Vestment Cabinet

As I am writing this the first pieces of "The Vestment Cabinet" are being glued together. I am not sure how long ago, two, maybe three years ago, Charley agreed to make a vestment cabinet for the church for the beloved, amazing vestments. Just this morning, when taking my eldest son to church to fill the candles, I dared to put my big toe in the sacristy to see what the vestments are hanging on now. I've never even put my little toe in there. Ahem. Yeah. Need something better than that....uh....hanger thingy to hang up the vestments. (Interesting room.) Why did this project take so long? Well, I can tell you why. It is huge. It is intricate. It will be beautiful. It is daunting. If I were Charley I would have been more than a little daunted by this project. After two (plus) years of gently asking and wondering how that was going to less than a month ago having a not so very nice conversation with him about 'just get it done' he has sold his soul to the vestment cabinet.

The man, in between the stressors at work and trying to perhaps change a diaper maybe or say 'oh yes, I remember Ingrid. Did she grow since I last saw her?' has gone from his day job, immediately to the barn to work on the cabinet. He stays in there on his feet till he flops in bed late at night. Or of course there were the couple times we visited with others that helped him come inside and eat and then see some other hunanoids. Do I write that to make anyone feel guilty? No. He isn't looking for any recognition but his weird wife now wonders if this work of art belongs in the sacristy????? Perhaps it could be a Lutheran confessional or something. It is huge!!!! Can it sit in the sanctuary? Of course not. But it is beautiful and amazing and I can honestly be awed and stunned by it.

Anna does not get her gift for art and precise craftsmanship from her mother. That would be the dad gene. Wow. I do miss seeing him around in the evening but I suppose he was usually busy chasing after this old place before he was working on that. His whole weekends outside of church the month of September have been constantly in the barn with a bite or two eaten in between. We have done nothing 'fun' as a family in a month including not even watching a simple movie together. He makes me tired just thinking about it but I suppose this is nothing new as he always has had his sleeves into something that keeps him busy. Although he did used to come in at night to tuck a few kids in etc and of course eat with us.

So I lift a toast to the fact that the end is in sight. Old man winter is knocking on the door and Charley is trying to beat the cold. Fortunately a fellow Bosch worker is over helping to do the gluing and another Bosch employee will be handling the varnishing. I am proud of him and he actually has enjoyed the experience and learned from it. The cabinet will serve its purpose and I am glad. No will go in and study the vestment cabinet or wonder if they can learn something from the Behemoth in the sacristy but.............and please..........no plaques............but know it was a daunting task and a work of love for his pastors and congregation. I do hope people can use their imaginations to recognize what a labor of love it has been and my apologies to my husband (I will tell him in person) for ever thinking "why can't you just put that thing together?)There...........that is all I have to say.........for now.