Searching for Sanctuary

I grew up in a piece of southern California that used to be known as dairy country. Houses, particularly those scattered throughout the lovely, round, mostly treeless hills, were few and far between. If we made a trip home after dark through Brea or Carbon Canyon, say from Grandma’s house, the lights from those houses could be seen from some distance. Their glow drew me in and my daydreaming turned to wondering who lived in them, and would they welcome me into their circle of light if I needed to find my way to their door?

The desire to find a sanctuary, a place safe enough so I could be myself, for better or worse, without a carefully constructed façade, eventually grew into a dream of creating such a place. For me. For my family. For those I love. And for friends or strangers who just might need a soft place to land.

The guest quarter in our first three homes (two apartments and a two-bedroom house) was basically our bedroom. When people stayed over we would use sleeping bags or took the pullout sofa in the living room. Affectionately known as The B-B (short for ‘big bed’) we would sometimes pull it out when the kids were little and all pile on to watch late movies on Friday nights.

When hunting for our second house, a spare bedroom topped the requirement list, even before ‘fireplace.’ And spare though it may be, we have been pleased to share it with many wonderful folk. On nights when our bedrooms, and sometimes couches and floors, are filled with people, I say a prayer of thanksgiving for the umbrella of God’s goodness that always seems big enough to shelter us all.

Providentially, the man I married shared this dream. High on our ‘bucket’ list is the following:  drive on every highway, back road and country lane in the state of California. We have a AAA map crisscrossed in yellow highlighter, a repository for the memories of lovely hours spent wandering here and there just to see where the road would take us. The dream of a place we began calling Sanctuary out loud persisted. And as we drove we’d ask each other, would it be possible to find a place that could accommodate even more people? A guest house perhaps? Some land to go with it? What about here, or there? The back roads were full of possibilities.

Then one cold spring day (we’re talking snowy cold here), while driving with a realtor in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, she said, since you mentioned you like farmhouses, there is one more place we could look at…

And so it was, in the summer of 2011, a bit too late for my birthday and a tad too early for our anniversary, we received a sweet, generous gift from God. We call it Sanctuary (surprise!) and if you find yourself in need of such a place, come on over. I’ll leave the light on for you.