Spending time in my garage with Pain.....

Spending time in a garage while my Pain rages does not sound like a place of comfort, quiet relaxation time and surroundings that encourage peace of mind. But, strange as this sounds, my garage has suddenly become the perfect oasis as I unwind and draw my second breath of air in this constant battle against Chronic Pain. Most people consider a garage to be filled with tools, long forgotten oil spills from the old car, dust in every corner, and items stuffed here and there.

We began bringing our garage alive when our son was in high school. We had the idea to bring it to life and create a teenage game room. After months of tireless remodeling...adding extra electrical lines, bringing in heating and air conditioning, painting, and putting down new flooring so those oil spills would not show...finally, we had a first-class game room, filled with everything from a stereo with audio sub-woofer speakers that literally made the walls dance from sound vibrations of teen age music to a bumper pool table, foosball, video arcade machine and, of course, a soda machine that never stayed filled! Now the once dusty and lonely garage shined from head to toe and was filled with the laughter of young teenagers simply having fun. But this was not to last long as time marched on, and our son graduated from high school and headed to college.

Now the game room became my new craft room, a place where I could create floral wreaths, sew beautiful Christmas table coverings, and try my hand at a game of Bumper Pool. I found myself quickly relaxing and being able to get my mind away from the Pain. But a parent has a deep child antenna built in. Before we knew it, our son was back from college, saying it was not for him. I said goodbye to my craft room because it turned into a bedroom for our son. Now instead of everything being clean, orderly and neat, chaos was all around with clothes piled on the floor, half-eaten pizza laying on a plate for days, and video games spread everywhere!  

Life can change so fast, and we realized the time had arrived to dig deep within ourselves and find our "Commando Parenting Tools." Soon we pushed our son out of his comfort zone and insisted that he get a job and learn how to take care of himself. We all got through it. The battle scars are buried deep within us. Months later, I found myself back, facing my lonely garage/game room/bedroom, wondering if I could ever enjoy the peace and quiet it once offered me.

Through my husband, a new path was opened for my garage. He began to turn it into an office for me, equipped with a lovely desk, laptop computer, printer, scanner, stereo speakers...everything I needed so my blogging could move along and hopefully the PAIN would subside a bit.  

At first, I fought against the idea of an office, not realizing how peaceful it can be. But now it's my oasis. As I look around, I see familiar photos hanging on the wall, curtains framing the windows, and a huge wood rocking chair by the window, inviting me to sit for a while, look outside and simply relax and take time to break away from the constant raging Pain inside my Body. Here is my place to draw deep from within myself, knowing I can still fight back at this Pain while nurturing myself as I write or simply look outside at nature.  

My lonely garage has finally found its true destination–my place of solace and joy. Now I look up to the Lord, thanking Him for each day, no matter how tough things might seem at times. Who knows, maybe your garage is looking for a new path, too!