Closing up shop is usually an unpleasant experience for me, although sometimes it isn’t as unpleasant as other times.

When you close something down, there is always a process you go through. 

When I leave the office at the end of the day, I shut down my computer, pack it up, turn off lights, lock doors and make sure the alarm code is set.

Some people have a closing up shop routine when they go to bed at night. You know you make sure the lights are off and the doors are locked. If they have kids in the home, they take a quick peak to check that they are sleeping soundly.

The worse case scenario for closing up shop is when a company is going out of business. When it is winding down its operation. Every step of that process is unpleasant.

Every time we leave our cottage, we have a closing up shop check list.

We go through the list of things that need to be checked off so that we can leave the place safe and secure until we return. 

 We don’t want to leave the refrigerator on if we are not going to come back to the cottage for a month. And it’s important to make sure we’ve locked the shed before we go so no one has access to it.

Closing up shop takes time to complete, but it’s necessary. 

The closing up shop routine that I dislike more than any other is when we leave our cottage for the last time before winter. I dislike it more because there is more to do. It’s a bit like a final closing up shop. It will be five to six months before we come back so it has to be done right. 

One of the things we do to close the cottage up – the last thing before we lock the doors – is to blow out the lines. Water can do a lot of damage if it’s trapped in the lines and then freezes. 

We use an air compressor to push air through all the hot and cold water lines. It flushes the whole system of water so there is nothing to freeze. 

I wish this was a quick process, but with our unusual set up, it takes time. Our system doesn’t have a hot water tank bypass, so as we blow out all the lines, the hot water tank gets flushed as well … and that takes time.  

So as we close up shop, and check off everything on the list, the one thing I’m not looking forward to is blowing out the lines … because once that is done, it really settles in that we won’t be back for a very long time. 

Here’s the thing: It’s nice to keep things open. Closing up shop is unpleasant; there is some finality to it, even if it is temporary. At this particular time, when some people are not attending church because of COVID, be careful not to close up shop on church. It’s not usually a simple decision but a process where you slowly check things off you are done with until finally it’s a done deal. Keep actively participating in church and ministries in person or online. Don’t close up shop.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you closed up in the last few months? Leave your comments and questions below.

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