Are you a safe place?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjmwfEM3wOQ

Every couple has a love song. They at least have a song they remember being popular at some point of their relationship they would play over and over. If you don't have a song, maybe you should be like Taylor swift and grab a pen and an old napkin and write down your song!  Tony and I have always had songs, from Keith Green in highschool, Harrod and Funck in college and A-LOT of Jimmy Buffet. Months ago I was introduced to the music of Andrew Peterson. I could not rave about him enough.  He is a brilliant poet. His songs are real and beautiful.  So, we have a new song. One that speaks more to where we are now in our relationship and life.

My One Safe Place

You're my oasis

The eye of the hurricane

One look at your face is

All I need to remember my name

So I run away home

Yes, I run away home to you

I was an orphan

Caught in a thunderstorm

You opened the door and welcomed me

Into your arms

So I run away home

Yes, I run away home to you

I believe in the love of the Father and

I believe in the power of grace

I believe that He brought us together and

You are my one safe place

You are a fortress

I am under siege

You're a light in the forest

I am a lost boy out in the trees

So I run away home

Yes, I run away home to 

Don't be scared, it's alright

It's a weight you were not meant to shoulder

But you bear so much light

And it's brighter each day we get older

And I know that you're  broken too

But you are a sacrament God has spoken through

He's spoken through you

I am my beloved's

My beloved is mine

And the banner that hovers over us

Is older than time

So I run away home....

You are my one safe place

Every day we are bombarded with people and circumstances that either exhaust us or cause emotional and mental turmoil. We are tired, torn, and stressed. After our long days at work, completing daily household chores, taking care of babies or being with kids at school and practices, running errands, making hard phone calls, dealing with conflict and tragedies, we just want to go home. It is a safe place. At least it should be. 

Unfortunately, marriages and homes often reflect the world more than a safe place.  After 16 years of marriage, raising 3 children, 3 moves, job changes, losing two fathers, and a whole lot more life, we have done it all. We have screamed, wept, laughed, yelled, loved, encouraged, and also been the source of each others greatest grief.  How many times have I waited for him to walk in the door, so that I could explode....

when he was looking for that safe place to run home to?  Imagine if daily we intentionally made sure that we were a safe place for our spouse to run to when everything around them is either crumbling or exhausting. And, what if we loved our spouse in this way without expecting anything in return?

The marriage relationship is the closest relationship we have in this life to Christ's relationship with the church. Christ's love for the church, for each of us as believers, is not because of what we do, but because of his Grace. Oh, how our marriages need grace poured into them.  Oh, how we need to be a refuge and sanctuary for our husbands and wives. We are the arms, feet, and hands of Christ to our most loved and cherished one. We ache to be comforted, healed, and held by the arms of our spouse; yet, instead of creating a safe place we lash out and push away. We find ourselves being no different from the world we are desperately trying to escape. God's love has no limit or condition and pours freely no matter what we have done or said. He is our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1).  This should be what is exemplified in our marriages.  I pray for myself and for you that we will be a safe place to run home to.