Our New and Old Floors

While I was taking a road trip to Denver to pick up my daughter from college, Good Shepherd took advantage of my absence to put the finishing touches on our chapel renovation, namely the removal of the carpeting and refinishing of the original wood floors in the foyer outside my office.  That wood, originally laid in 1890, is beautiful (talk about hiding your light under a bushel basket).  Looking at them now got me thinking.  How many people have walked those floors in the nearly 130 years the mansion has been around?  How many lives have been touched in this place, beginning in 1931 when it was converted to the St. Domenico Italian Orphans Home and in all the incarnations that followed?  How many hurting children have found healing here?  How many prayers have been said…and answered?  What an incredible legacy!

Frankly, it’s humbling to think that we have 85 years of faith-filled care and service that have taken place here.  Each generation of that care has set the stage for the next, and we are no exception.  What standards are we setting, and what foundation are we laying for the next 85 years? If the last four years are any indication, it’s a foundation of which we can be very proud.  I am honored to be part of the history of this place and honored to inherit the legacy of the care and service  here.  Most of all, however, I am honored to work with and for such dedicated, skilled, and faith-filled people.  May these floors ever be a reminder of that blessing.

Yours in Christ,

Michael