Reclaiming My Holy Place

My favorite place to experience my quiet time used to be in the big over-sized chair in my family room. It has a footstool that goes with it and I can spread my stuff out if I need to, curl up if I want to, or stretch out if I want to. On cold winter days I can have a fire in the fireplace and enjoy the warmth it brings.

I used to love spending my time with the Lord in that space. It used to draw me into the comfort of the cushions and the embrace of Jesus.

Used to.

I realized that I don’t really look forward to my time there anymore. I still spend plenty of time in that chair, but less and less of it is in personal quiet time.

In Week 3 of Priscilla Shirer’s Breathe study, we are asked to name any part of our life that has become distasteful to us. We are asked to describe how we felt about that part of our lives before and how we feel now. The very first thing that popped into my mind was my chair space.

I used to love it. I used to feel drawn to it. I used to sink in and feel peace and rest. It was a holy place.

My chair space is not like that anymore. It has become a place of stacking and collecting stuff. More than my quiet time journal and Bible. My computer sits there. My calendar sits there. Several items should have been thrown away weeks ago. I really need to quit being such a stacker. Sigh.

It has ceased being a respite and has become a place of work.

I need to reclaim that space. To declare it as a “no-work” zone. To once again allow it to be that place where I meet with the Lord just for me. Not for my work. Not for my ministry. Just for me. A holy place.

Less than 10 minutes later all that remains is my quiet time Bible, and my journal.

I can see the footstool. I don’t need to move stuff off the chair in order to sit down. The

side table has room for a candle and my coffee cup.

I feel like I have been holding my breath.  I can literally breathe again. Just seeing it clear of the clutter draws me in. The temptation will be to allow all of that stuff to crowd it out again. Part of the journey in creating margin is to also develop the habits that will enable us to keep that margin in place.

Remembering how I used to love my time in my chair, remembering how clutter robbed me of that love, remembering the surprisingly immediate lift in my spirit when I cleaned it off and put things where they needed to be; remembering all of that and praising the Lord for the time we will spend together there is truly a holy, #sabbathmargin moment.

What have you loved in the past that you no longer love because you have no margin in which to love it? What step can you do today to reclaim that love?

Blessings,

Denise

#LivingHoly

Linking up with my friends over at #IntentionalTuesday with @CrystalStorms