I place great importance on having a "place." I was blessed with a childhood that let me set down roots in Jackson, and even since then, with my transient moves from dorm to dorm and my room at home in the summers, I've managed to feel settled in many different places. While I was at MSMS, I decided that rather than letting myself feel homeless after my parents' move, I would consider myself "home-ful." Everywhere I went, I built different memories and had different modes of creating comfort.
Our apartment in Huntsville has a little sunroom with some built-in bookshelves that was one of the selling features for us. We had the option of an apartment model with either a screen porch or a sunroom, and we chose the sunroom, thinking we would use it much more than a porch. (Plus, the sunroom is where the extra storage closet lives! And the aforementioned built-in bookshelves!) I had a vision for making it into my cozy nook and searched long and hard for the perfect armchair. I wanted something that would sit catty-corner facing the window, with room for a lamp behind it and a little table next to it. In a world where all furniture seems to be overstuffed and oversized, I managed to find my perfect little chair and ottoman at a furniture consignment shop. It was a rather lurid floral print, but I purchased a SureFit slip cover in a tasteful taupe that even goes with our couch (which is in the other room, but who knows? They might sit next to each other some day.). The cover is too big (note comment about the world of overstuffed furniture), but with some tucking it does the trick. Though Hubby sits there sometimes, I consider the chair "Mine," which fits in well with my need for a Place.
Some days I sit there and just feel unabashedly happy. The view out the window (other apartment buildings) isn't anything special, but it's mine. When the sun is setting, I can just glimpse its pinks and oranges over the tops of the buildings, and when the leaves change, they explode into my line of vision with God-glorying brilliance. This past Sunday afternoon, Hubby turned the glider around from the living room and sat there with his laptop while I read Rebecca in my chair. I kept putting the book down on my lap to just savor the feeling...the happiness. My nook is my reading place, my leisurely Saturday morning with a cup of tea place. The room might not be the pinnacle of interior design, but it is chock full of my favorite books and wedding photos...and it is mine.
I'd been contemplating getting up earlier for awhile, even though marriage (read: having another person around from Moment 1 of each day) has forced me to acknowledge that I am not a morning person. Mornings are hectic time for me. It seems no matter my intentions, I cannot get out the door before 8:00, if even on the hour at all. So I decided to get up a half hour earlier, but not to commence rushing around. I've set up the table in my nook with my Bible, some devotional printouts, inspirational books, and my journal. Each morning I'm planning to come and spend some time there, in quietness, to try and capture the "leisurely Saturday morning with a cup of tea" feeling for every day and carry it with me. I've done it twice so far, and while I can't say I've felt anything, per se, I'm confident that it's in the stillness that we can best hear God. So I will snuggle myself into my chair each morning as the sun rises and see what whispers I may discern. And then my place will grow into a memory that I can carry with me for all time.
