A Place for Everything: UpdateDecember 08, 2025

A Place for Everything: Update

Two reflections ago, I shared my attempts at getting organized prior to having hip replacement surgery. I was inspired by the Shaker motto: “A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place.” Progress was made in my bedroom with the rearrangement of furniture, the inclusion of a comfortable chair for prayer time, the removal of a rocking chair and the placement of a tall chest of drawers in my closet. Efforts in my bathroom meant cleaning out each of the drawers in the bathroom vanity, the shelves of the linen closet as well as the cabinet beneath the sink. Out of date pills were disposed of appropriately and those I kept were now organized in the top drawer, lined up like soldiers ready for duty! Items that were not needed or would never be used were given a more suitable home, often the Give-Away table. The dining room area was transformed from an office to a place where two could sit and enjoy a meal. Files were stacked for further culling and small projects were lined up next to my chair in the living room. I was quite pleased!

That is, untilI came home from the hospital carrying a large bag full of medications to be taken throughout the day and night (every three hours for some of them) on a schedule that kept me busy for more than two weeks! My pills now requiredtwodrawers! Even after I had returned to a more normal pattern of getting meals and participating in Mass and prayers, I had another schedule to keep of physical therapy appointments and exercises with icing to follow each session. Of the several small projects that I set aside to complete during recovery, I have completed only two and the stack of undone projects somehow lookslargerthan when I put it together!

“Order Calms”, the Amish say. But my idea of having put things in order did not last long. Shortly after I returned from my surgery, my suite-mate needed to be able to work part of the day at home, so we undid the eating arrangements to create another office setup that provided plug-ins for two computers. Happily perched on a tall open shelf, my African violets and orchid plants safely survey the scene as it changes regularly. Outdoor gardening is another challenge. The iris that arrived for fall planting before my surgery and the tulip and daffodil bulbs that came in a large box last week cannot wait much longer to enter the garden spots that need to be prepared to welcome them. I am grateful for the sunny days in the forecast.

I still hope to create the space I envisioned when I began my major reorganization and down-sizing. What I have had to accept is that healing is the number one priority and it takes much longer than one expects. One is taught that everything else gets adjusted because of that. I have had to accept the fact that I can control “just so much” of my life and that what I am able to control is becoming less all of the time. I am not likely to adjust to that fact very easily, but I am trying. These are not the lessons that I expected God to teach me at this point in my life, but then, God is full of surprises! Teresa of Avila was right: “All things are passing, God alone remains.” I am glad for that…. Always!

Sister Anne Marie Diederich