A Simple Chair

To a guest in our home, it is simply a plain gray chair in the corner. A chair situated by the window with an old, faded ‘Home Sweet Home’ pillow.

Uninviting and unimpressive.

To me, the chair is where I meet Jesus before the sun rises each morning. Together we discuss the day, and I meditate on His words in Scripture. He speaks to my heart – the brokenness, the heartache, and the fear. He comforts, equips, and challenges me. I sit there until the house wakes up and the groggy-eyed children come downstairs for breakfast. My Bible then takes a prominent place on the little brown table beside the chair, reminding me throughout the day of where I find my peace – my refuge, my heart’s sweet home.

In the middle of our school day, my eight-year-old meanders over to the same chair with his reading book and his red leather adventure Bible. The chair transforms into a place for imagination, Indians in the Cupboard, and eventually a wild ride through his favorite male heroes in the Bible.

In the late evening hours, my teenager gathers her pens, journal, and Bible. Ready to unpack the emotions from the day and prepare for tomorrow, her day ends where my day began – with Jesus.

A simple gray chair to most, but to our family it’s a place to find rest, to snuggle with a good book or loved one, or to pour our hearts out over a journal or the pages of Scripture.

A safe place of refuge passed down from generation to generation, the chair invites us all to sit at the feet of Jesus.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28 NIV

What places in your home hold special meaning?

What practices are you passing down to the next generation?

Where do you go to find rest?