The Story of "Making Room for Peace"

One of the questions that I often get asked is how I got started with Making Room for Peace.  I find that people are often intrigued not only by our mission statement but the articles that we write and the hope that we share, and so I wanted to share our story here with you today:  

To be totally honest, the blog Making Room for Peace was born during a season of intense anxiety and searching.  Having just decluttered our home and our lifestyle, I was left with the question of "now what?"  I had tried my best to shed the excess but was left feeling empty.  I sought to fill this void with healthy practices such as meditation, eating nourishing foods and spending time in nature - all of which were good things but were ultimately unfulfilling. 

It wasn't until the late summer of 2016 when I was talking with a co-worker, that I began to experience peace.  We were chatting while sorting through fabric samples at work when she turned to me and asked about my faith.  I started to tell her about how I had been saved at a young age and relayed a little of my faith journey but I struggled... I never got to the part where Christ changed me - where I died to myself and let Him have ownership over my life.  In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says that,"if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!"  I looked at my co-worker, a young woman who was going through some really hard times and yet... she radiated this joy and peace.  I wanted that.  However I knew that in order to get that, some things would have to change.  I knew what it was like to live for myself - to live in sin; and while it may have felt fun in the moment at the end of the day it left me feeling awful.  I knew that I needed to make a decision about whether or not I was going keep living for myself or whether I was going to live for Christ and to follow Him.  I needed to decide about whether I was going to seek peace and pursue it.  

I went home that weekend and spent the entire time in prayer, in worship, in and reading the Bible.  I felt God's Spirit come into me again and shortly after that weekend I began to see changes in my life.  The way that I looked at things changed - everything became about Jesus.  I learned how to pray and realized the importance of community.  I asked for and accepted His forgiveness and love.  God also miraculously healed me of my anxiety and depression!*  I could go on and on about the things that He has done and is doing...

The name "making room for peace" actually came to me during that time of anxiety and questioning.  I had had another blog at the time that had experienced some relative success but had started to feel superficial to me.  I knew that just as with my spiritual life, I wanted something with more depth, that discussed topics such as decluttering and faith.  While I went ahead and bought the web address for Making Room for Peace, it wasn't until after my recommitment of faith that I began to dive in.  Years later, we are continuing to provide encouraging and practical articles touching on everything from decluttering to styling, slow living, and faith.  We also now offer services in styling, decluttering, and workshops!  It is our mission to encourage men and women on their journey of shedding what is no longer serving them (i.e. physical possessions, thoughts and behaviors) in order to make room for peace.