In Which my Worn and Faded Reading Chair is Saving Me

The smell of coffee encircles me in comfort as I curl into my worn and faded reading chair in the early morning gray. My bible laid before me, my hair still wet from my post-workout shower. The chair and I old friends reunited. We've missed our early mornings together in the gray before the world awakes. We've missed our few stolen moments together--together in the early morning light with the scripture and the Spirit awakening my spirit.

Four years my reading chair has sat in my parent's guest bedroom, piled high with grandkid toys and waiting, waiting for me to come home from across the sea and curl into it, book in hand.

Now we are home here in the early morning gray.

I think of the Lowery's who donated it to my sparse Portland apartment. I remember the mornings curled in front of the window, always coffee in hand, asking God the difficult questions and working through the pain of depression and eating disorder. I remember the move to Colorado for the healing and the rediscovering and the space it filled in the corner of my quirky, basement apartment. I remember how I learned to love tea there, sitting and sipping hot tea with friends on bitter cold winter nights.

And now here we are again in the gray of the morning with our coffee stains and our faded upholstery. Here we are inviting the Spirit to join us and asking the hard questions again. Here we are looking and searching for the hope. Here we are praying for the day and the people in the day and the unexpected of the day. Here we are reading about King Jehoshaphat and how he followed after the heart of God. Here we are in the calm of the morning gray curled against the faded orange upholstery.

It's this place in the morning gray that is saving me right now. It is this place keeping me centered and focused and giving me the courage for the new day. It's this place in my favorite reading chair where I find myself, where I find again the me God created me to be. It's in this place I find Jesus, sitting with me, breathing in the morning gray and speaking the quiet I need for today.
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This post is written as part of the "What is saving your life right now?" syncroblog taking place over on Sara Bessy's blog. Check out what is saving others and share your own life saver.