The Color Purple

It was purple. It had to be purple. My own room. My own space. Purple made it mine.

Divine providence placed me that room in the basement just as I neared adolescence. It was no coincidence, either, that the move preceded hearing His voice. He designed this special place just for me.

When I felt like I didn't fit in, like something was wrong with me, I retreated to my purple room. It was always quiet down there, always welcoming, producing in me the feeling I could be exactly who I was without comparison to anybody. It didn't matter what I looked like or if I had a date to the dance or how many games I sat on the bench. My purple room was safe because God met me there. It was there I pleaded for God to make me something special. It was there I scoured my Bible, finding all kinds of promises to hook myself to. There is where I wrote in my journal about my feelings of inadequacy and yearnings for true love that overlooked my flaws. It was there God whispered in my ear, "I see you. I love you. I have plans for you. Follow Me."

"As Christians, we are called to convert our loneliness into solitude. We are called to experience our aloneness not as a wound but as a gift--as God's gift--so that in our aloneness we might discover how deeply we are loved by God."

~ Henri Nouwen ~

My purple room was God's gift to me, my own private sanctuary to get acquainted with Jesus and let Him shower me with His love and attention.

To this day I love the color purple. In the next room is a purple chaise lounge--a perfectly impractical gift from my perfectly in tune husband. (It's been three years and I still love looking at that thing!) The very room I'm sitting in has a purple centerpiece, purple curtains, purple flowers in a swag on the wall, a purple vase holding my beloved pussy willows and purple hydrangeas surrounding me in a wallpaper border. I laugh as I realize it is in this room I do the same things I did in my bedroom as a teenager. Here is where I meet God now. Here is where His Spirit breathes new life into my weary soul. Here is where I study His word and gain strength for a new day. Here is where I soak in His "aahhh" and have a hard time leaving to begin the tasks at hand.

In the Bible purple is the color of royalty. Does that mean I'm a queen? I'm just saying. . .

I pray you all find solitude and God's spirit in your alone times, my friends. Sit back and soak Him in. Let yourself be lonely enough to experience His touch.


Stop by Christine's at Fruit in Season to read more.