Emily is a writer and photographer living in Florida with her husband, two kids, and two dogs. (And five chickens!) After quitting her job and selling their home, her family moved to Florida five years ago and bought a fixer-upper. Walks on the beach keep her sane during house projects. To learn more about Emily, visit her at Remodeling This Life.
The house I grew up in had three stories plus a basement. The basement was partially finished with a couch and TV cabinet. It is where my brother and I hung out, watching MTV and playing Nintendo together. The main room of the basement had smaller rooms around the perimeter rooms, closed off by doors that housed tools and work areas for my dad. It was those rooms that scared me. The dark spaces in the peripheral that held the unknown. If I was down there with my brother, it wasn’t as scary. He was a red head. Surely any lurking monsters would eat him first.
The only light to the basement was at the top of the stairs. Because it is what brothers do, sometimes he would go upstairs and leave me down there alone, switching the light off on his way. I’d hear him laughing in the kitchen as I scrambled, terrified, yelling at him as I skipped steps up the stairs to switch the light on as quickly as possible. With the light, everything was alright.
I’m older now and at least pretend well that I no longer believe in monsters lurking behind doors in dark rooms. But sometimes, I find myself in the deep dark basement of despair, feeling like a little girl – insecure and afraid. When I find myself there, I will sometimes forget how easy it is to sprint to the light switch and flick it on. Instead, I will stand frozen in fear and I cling to the lies the darkness tells me.
Then, a gentle and kind reminder in the form of light through the crack at the threshold of the door reminds me there is light on the other side if I only I reach for it. The sliver of light shows me the way. Up the steps, back to The Light where everything is alright.
What a vivid, gentle reminder that we get to choose what we believe. We can stay frozen in fear at the foot of the stairs, or dash right up towards Truth. I had the priveledge of hanging out with Emily in real life at BlissDom last year. She is a gem wrapped up in funny and tied with a beautiful bow. Visit her about page to learn more about her journey.
Your words speak to me. Sprinting to the light…what I long to do when I’m frozen in fear. Thankfully, the Lord is melting those fears little by little.
Southern Gal´s last [type] ..Time
Thank you for sharing your story…your words have touched a place in my heart that needed reminding that I do not need to fear anything in this life because we have a God that is bigger than anything that may be lurking in the “dark”. I really needed to hear this today. You have really blessed me.
Mary Joy @ Snapshots from my Heart & Home´s last [type] ..Week 2 Hebrews 10-24 Challenge Fridays-becoming an Intentional Encourager at home- Encouraging your husband
perfectly truthful.
great illustration. Isn’t it amazing how the ‘little girl” in us keeps surfacing and still directing our emotions. Those deep seated fears never do fully go away.
thank you for letting me visit today. xoxo
I love this, Emily! This reminder subtly but brightly shows me that darkness doesn’t stand a chance against our God. His light-even just a sliver-ovewhelms!
What a great read to start my weekend on. Thank you!
Kristen-Moms Sharpening Moms´s last [type] ..Castle Rock in a Sea of Corn
What beautiful words. And yes, we sometimes have to think of and remember the light we can run to . That light for me is God, who helps me even in the darkest spaces.
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Kim´s last [type] ..Would like some input from my friends
I love that the tiniest of lights (just a flicker of a candle, even) overcomes the darkness of any room.
Dayle´s last [type] ..Our Evolution of Camping
This post brought back so many memories of my brother running up the stairs to shut off the light. The mere thought of it immediately brought that panicked feeling to the surface. Although the fear of stereotypical, childhood monsters disappears isn’t it amazing how other more ‘grown up’ fear still manage to frighten us. Thank you so much for sharing!
One Frugal Girl´s last [type] ..Too Obsessed With Money
This completely resonated with me! The middle part of our basement was finished, but the part with the washer and dryer and crawl space was always so dark. I was terrified to go in there alone. I don’t remember if my brothers ever turned off the lights when I was down there, but I was scared even with the light on! What a beautiful, poignant reminder to reach for the Light.
Welcome “Other Emily.” I love your vivid description of basements and light. It is so true what you said…and it’s funny that I often don’t run to the light as quickly as I should. I’m always so glad when I do but as a grown-up, sometimes I linger too long in the dark. I like your reminder to “sprint.” Good, good words.
The Scooper´s last [type] ..Do You See What I See
beautiful post, miss emily.
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