My sweet, creative, artsy, brilliant neighbor and friend Rachel (http://www.homesanctuary.com) is a lovely gift giver. From little ornaments and fresh picked flowers to handmade artwork and homemade sweet treats, she’s knows how to make her friends smile.
Which is why I was grinning ear to ear when she painted this little sign and brought it over to my house several years ago:
I love it’s simplicity and poignant declaration over my home. It’s like the calm in the midst of the swirling mayhem of muddied football cleats, half eaten sandwiches and dirty laundry.
So, I keep it in my bathroom; one of the only sanctuary-ish places in my house. . . kind of. . .
There it is. Do you see it? Tucked behind all those legos that my son Jude plays with. . .in MY bathtub. . .that is in MY sanctuary/bathroom is the sign – imprisoned like a caged animal trying desperately to get out from behind its multi-colored cell.
Oh well. . so much for peace, order and beauty, right?
I giggled when I caught sight of this irony today but I didn’t have time to do much of anything about it. I was headed into the kitchen to put together the beginning of our evening’s dinner.
Needed a recipe from my recipe box. . .
I never found the one I was looking for.
I giggled again as I started taking out ingredients to whip together a dish with a recipe that was already in my brain instead of in my black-hole-recipe box. Needed some red wine vinegar out of the pantry and on the way across the kitchen I came face to face with the far wall beside the dining table:
A different rotation of words like these have been there for years now. Taught all three of my boys to read during the pre-kindergarten years and our “wordwall” has been a huge part of the process. It’s my four year old’s turn now (the same one that turned my tub into a toy box). We’ve all gotten so used to seeing our kitchen wall scattered with random papers that it doesn’t phase us anymore. It’s just our “wordwall”, that’s all. I’m sure a guest’s eye might see it differently and laugh hysterically if they knew about my sanctuary sign – the caged animal on lock down in the bathroom.
My sanctuary sign seems more displaced then ever in my small, crowded house where kitchen walls are school boards and bathtubs are toy bins. But then I realized that this little place we call home – with all it’s loving pandemonium is actually exactly what my sign declares it should be – just in a way that looks different from the Pottery Barn catalogue that came in the mail yesterday.
Peace – my children and husband are healthy – body, mind and spirit. The assurance and rest of Christ rules amid the craziness of daily living and all who enter these doors can sense His love. We feel safe and at ease here. We can be authentic with one another. There is peace here.
Beauty – We laugh and smile and cuddle and eat and play and forgive and tuck precious memories into bed each night. Beautiful.
Order – . . . well maybe I’m still working on this one . . .
This is my sanctuary. God’s presence makes it so.
This is Home.
Enjoy yours today, ok? No matter what it looks like 🙂
Priscilla
