Sanctuary

 

            Our room, I knew, would be small. This house holds two bedrooms of identical size, and they aren’t huge. But then again, back in the day, houses didn’t even have set-aside bedrooms. One-room cabins and cottages paved the way in this country. I don’t know that I’m ready to scale back to no rooms, but when did the bedrooms start becoming entire house-sized suites? And do we really need something that grand?

            We knew when we moved here, we would lose a lot of square footage in our master bedroom, but we also knew we could make it a sanctuary. Not like a church, of course. We think of that when we hear the word sanctuary, but the word actually means a place of refuge and protection. That was what we wanted to create.

            Regardless of how much room we had, we wanted it to be a place that represented safety, comfort, and love. A place where we could sleep well at night and awaken the next morning, refreshed and ready to tackle a full day’s work.

            What makes a sanctuary?

            For us, it meant a place that told our story. Pictures of our life together. Reminders of our commitment to one another.

            Reminders of the sheer joy that commitment is in our lives.

            Reminders of the sweetest moments we’ve shared. (Those rose petals are all forty roses Ryan gave me at my fortieth birthday party.)

            Reminders of what we are called to do in this life. This journal holds notes for a book I want to write.

            Reminders of the people who shaped us. These rocks were the guest book at our wedding and hold the names of those who witnessed our union that day.

            Reminders that dreams matter, and we shouldn’t give up on them even if we don’t see how they can possibly come to pass.

            Reminders of home and travel and how dearly we love them both.

            This is our sanctuary. This is the place with the calming comforter over the bed, where we can sink in deeply at night and sleep well. This is the place we can awaken and look over the water in the morning. This is the place where some of our best conversations take place late at night when the work is done and we finally exhale. This is where Lexi finally exhales after living life to the fullest. This is where Braeya prefers to live most of the time. 

            It’s small, but it’s home. It's a sanctuary, and we love it.