If you have read my post entitled My Lifeboat, you know the events that led to my renting an apartment in August of 2014. If you have not read the post, you can scroll down to read it. The apartment was a very special place. There were times when I really did feel like we had made a mistake by renting the apartment. In some ways, I felt like I was running away from my problems, but each time I would have these thoughts, God would remind me that it was not a mistake. How could it have been a mistake when God had led me directly to it. The apartment was there waiting for me and it was meant for me to occupy. It was as if the apartment was my cocoon. It kept me safe and hidden away. It protected me from many things including myself. I am so thankful for that apartment, and I will never forget its significance in my spiritual healing and growth.

There was one room in the apartment that was extra special to me. I called it the sitting room. The apartment had two bedrooms. The extra bedroom was small, and I really didn’t need a second bedroom, so I decided to make it a sitting room with a couch, chair, and television. I do not watch much television, maybe an hour a day, but everyone felt it was important for me to have one. I spent a lot of time in this room stitching and watching movies that made me feel good. I watched a lot of Christmas movies and many Doris Day movies. I love Doris Day! She just makes me happy and watching her movies and listening to her music while I stitched helped me feel better and secure. The same is true for Christmas movies and music. It didn’t matter what time of year it was. Watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music, made me feel better. I even got addicted to the Hallmark movie channel when they were showing Christmas movies 24 hours a day!

If I was not stitching, I would lie on the couch and watch the movies that made me feel happy and I did a lot of thinking in this room. Jeff and I talked and prayed a lot in this room. Many decisions were made in this room and many past events were discussed. We talked to God in this room and asked Him to reveal His plans for our lives and tried our best to be obedient to the things He was asking us to do. A sampler hung in this room that said, “Peace be unto thee”. When I hung the sampler, I hung it for no reason, but as the weeks and months went by, the sampler became a powerful message that Jeff and I both needed to hear. We both spent time just looking at the words of that sampler and processing its message. I know now that God led me to hang the sampler in that room. It could be seen no matter where I sat and peace really did fill that room.

The road to peace can be very bumpy and scary and doubt and fear can fill our hearts and minds if we allow it to. However, if we cling to God and let Him lead the way, we really have nothing to fear. I am so thankful for that little room and I am so thankful for the lessons that God taught me within that space. He taught me that the only way to true happiness and peace was through HIm. He taught me to seek out HIs advice, and He taught me to have faith in Him. The great thing about God is that He can do that for all of us no matter what situation we are in. God wants everyone to have peace and to live the life that they have always been meant to live. God will do that for all of us if we just follow Him and always do our best to be obedient to Him. I still have work to do in my life, we all do, but I feel as if I have the tools now to improve my life even more and I am so thankful to have been given that gift. When we follow God and listen to His voice we have no other choice than to have peace in our lives, and PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~