My parents recently got back together after over two decades of being divorced and moved back to our family's home town in North Alabama. During a majority of their time apart, my mom lived on the southern coast away from everything and everyone she had known before. It was a humongous step for her to leave the small town she had been a part of since young adulthood, but it was important for her to find herself and to grow spiritually, and God led her to focus on that healing and growth by the sand and water of the Gulf of Mexico. She still owns a fabulous little 2 story condo there, although it has been on the market for quite some time in an economy that doesn't allow many of us to be able to afford the purchase of a new home, and so my dad has been going down with her periodically to make checks on the place and to enjoy the ocean with her until it sells. I was hoping to go down there in a few weeks with my boys when we are in Alabama for my son's surgery and recovery, but unfortunately for me and fortunately for them, they finally had a bite from a prospective buyer. Upon hearing the news today that the place may be sold by the end of March, memories of our good times there flooded back to me.
Even my mom has mixed feelings about letting it go because it was as she called it, "a place of refuge" for her during the challenging years after the divorce and raising the last of her children (she didn't move until we had all grown up and graduated high school and college). When she described it as a place of refuge for herself, I realized it had been one for me too, in a sense. For most of my years on the island, my mom's condo on the coast was the place I went "home" to, both on my own and later, with my babies. It was my home away from home, the place where I could be myself the most, the corner of the world where I went to talk out life's difficulties with my mom face to face (who also happens to be one of my best friends), where I could truly relax like nowhere else, and the place where I felt God's peace surrounding me like a warm, soft blanket. The spiritual growth that occurred in my mom over the years in that house radiated out of the furniture I sat and sometimes slept on where she did many of her daily devotionals; it permeated the walls and provided me with a sense of protection I'd never known, like an invisible shield around me. God's peace was there with her, and I so desperately wanted what she had without even realizing what it was at the moment.
I have that peace in my life now, and so I can see why her home there meant so much to me. I understand that it's not the home itself which provided the peace, but it will always be symbolic for me of that haven of peace we all want to get to, but often have to go through so much to reach it. My mom was my rock and my spiritual mentor and encourager through some dark years in my life, and her condo on the coast was my place of refuge and rest from my spiritual and personal struggles, and apparently it was a peaceful place for my babies as well. They love her "beach house" and still talk about it often. When we visit, they run in and up the stairs to their "room" as if they were just there yesterday, and that's what a home is, somewhere that peace, comfort, and security abound, where you can go to cry, laugh, love, and even vent your frustrations, knowing that there will always be arms of love reaching out to hold you and willing ears ready to listen when you need to talk.
My mom's coastal retreat has so many good and precious memories for me, too many to list here as a matter of fact, but I wanted to at least pay a little homage to it in writing before moving on with my mom to a new place where we can make new memories together. After all, the memories do not mean so much because of the actual places they happened; they mean so much because of the wonderful people who inhabited those places at the time and made memories with us. So, mom, even though it's not easy to let go of your Alabama coast condo that has meant so much to our family, I look forward to helping you and dad make your new home just as much of a retreat, refuge, and haven full of God's peace for the future!
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