Out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light
After a long search for a bargain, in 2003 Ray and I bought our ten acres in the country with our very old, drafty, squeaky house that we love to call home. About two weeks later I turned fifty. Ray asked me what I would like to do on my birthday. I told him that I wanted to go see my Mama and Daddy. I said, “Who gets to spend their fiftieth birthday with their parents?” We drove the two hours to Ashland City where I grew up. While we were there, Mama, Daddy, and I stood in their kitchen and someone in our family snapped our picture. I didn’t know that three weeks later my Daddy would suddenly be “absent from the body” but “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
At the time we were “up to our eyeballs” with the beginning stages of the ongoing process of restoring this old house. Four or five weeks later we moved into it. It was January and it was cold and it was dark. I had heard of people who get depressed in the winter because they need light. I had never understood that from personal experience, but I quickly learned how important light was to me. I needed light. I was in such a dark, depressed place. I was Daddy’s only girl and, oh, I missed my Daddy. Our house was dark and I wanted light. One day I went to an antique store and bought a bunch of lamps. I don’t remember exactly, but it seems like I bought ten lamps for $50! After that, the antique store owner seemed especially happy to see me come in. Little did she know that I wasn’t always an impulsive spender who was going to clean her out. I just needed light!
Last night Ray and I spent a wonderful evening with the SALT homeschool group in Charlotte, North Carolina. We were so encouraged. We didn’t spend our day seeing an historic site or the wonders of Creation. We spent, oh about four hours, in IKEA! We were soaking up Swedish culture, right?
At lunchtime we headed to the cafeteria for one of their delicious bargains. Ray said, “Let’s sit in the light.” That sounded good to me. We headed for a table by a window. Nearby at another table by a window was a threesome who looked like they fit in much better at IKEA than this couple from rural Tennessee. I’m guessing it was probably a young couple and his mother. He and the gray-haired older woman looked European to me. He was wearing dark sunglasses and a plaid driving cap with his gray T-shirt. The arm facing me was covered with tattoos.
The bright scene at IKEA was a definite contrast to our very dark hotel room on Sunday night. We stayed in a quaint old lodge in a tiny town near Crossnore. The lodge was founded in 1937. The walls in our room were board and batten and were finished with a dark pine stain. The ceiling was identical to the walls. The room had one dim wall sconce and three lamps, all with black shades. I wanted to take some pictures because I really liked the room–I think board and batten is so pretty–but it was just too dark. Our luggage is almost all black. I told Ray we would have to be really careful to find all of our stuff when we left, because the room was so dark.
I did take pictures of the porch outside the rooms the next morning. It was beautiful in the misty morning light.
As Ray and I sat eating in the light by the window at IKEA, I glanced over at the threesome nearby. They bowed their heads and the young man with the tattoed arm and the dark sunglasses and the plaid driver’s cap led them in prayer, and not a quick prayer either, but a rather lengthy conversation.
When the power goes out, we are surprised by darkness. Sometimes we are surprised by light, like yesterday when I saw a brighter light than the one Ray and I were already enjoying by the IKEA window.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God’s own possession,
so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9, NASB