Whenever I see a doghouse, my memory returns to a night many years ago. I was about four years old, and my family had recently moved to an old farmhouse. 

I’d always had a bit of an issue with sleepwalking, but up to that point, I’d never wandered far from my bed. But on this particular night, I walked out of my room, down the stairs, and out the front door—all while I was still asleep.

I don’t remember leaving the house. But I sure do remember waking up outside, on the front porch. Once the initial wave of confusion passed, I tried to open the front door. 

It was locked.

So then I tried ringing the doorbell and shouting for my parents and knocking on the door as loud as I could. But they were upstairs, asleep in their beds like I should’ve been in mine. They didn’t hear me.

When that didn’t work, I tried to find the hidden key. I knew Mom kept it under the flower pot on the porch. I moved the pot, but in the pitch-black darkness of the night, I couldn’t see the key. I was running out of options, and I was cold and tired.

So four-year-old me did the only thing left. Our dog Barney used to sleep on top of his doghouse on the front porch. So I crawled inside the doghouse, snuggled up in his smelly fleece blanket, and fell asleep.

I’m sure I was scared. And my parents were terrified when they woke up and I wasn’t in my bed.

But I’m reminded of the fact that even in moments of darkness or fear, God is our refuge.

He is our safe place—like Barney’s doghouse was for me on that strange night.

I love the words of Psalm 91:4-6: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.”

Lots of scary things happen. Things even scarier than sleepwalking outside in the middle of the night.

But God wants to be our refuge through it all. We can turn to Him first.

Unlike locked doors and hidden keys, God will never let us down.

And never forget… you are onederfully created by Him.

Love,
Becca