One of the best things that happened to me this summer is the gift of a wicker hanging swing chair. We keep it in our backyard and it has quickly become one of my favorite spots, to sit slow and spend some quiet time in prayer.
I have to admit, I find myself a bit surprised that our backyard has now become one of my favorite spots, because for a very long time it was one of my least favorite areas of our home, that is, until I had an attitude change.
We have a tiny, imperfect backyard.
I would love to put a some money into it and add a privacy gate at the driveway (it opens to the alley) and some landscaping, but I have decided to use what we have and do my best to create a cozy, hygge area and find my thankful.
I had to choose to look at all of the positive things about our little yard…there are many things if I just choose to look!
- the aged wood of our quaint shed, it is quite charming!
- the beautiful vine that grows along our chain fence and creates privacy. A squirrel just played peek-a-boo through it with me as I type this, and a few minutes later, a bunny!
- the large incredibly tall trees that provide shade
- the little fountain we put into the ground 10 years ago that still provides the soothing sound of water.
- new weatherproof hanging lights that make me so happy and add amazing evening ambiance
- the surprising delight I find in birds and hide-n-seek squirrels and bunnies!
There are also some things I don’t like about our backyard, some that can be changed and some that can’t.
- it is near a busy street, so during morning and evening rush hour this can get loud
- it is right off the alley, and our driveway gate blew down and broke beyond repair quite a few years ago. It leaves me feeling exposed.
- the grass is patchy…working on this!
- the driveway is cracked
- you have
to walk through our messy garageto get to it from inside…need to work on this! Update: DONE!! - it is smaaaalllllll
Back to finding my thankful and choosing to look at the positive…oh what a difference this makes!
I made it my mission this summer to make the best of what we have and create hygge. It is a work in progress, and like I said, I will share that progress with you soon!
For now, I want to talk about my new sit slow chair that I use for prayer.
Sit Slow Summer Wicker Hanging Chair
Earlier this summer, we had our unused and very large swingset removed from our backyard.
It was bittersweet, as it held many fun memories of my girls and their neighbor friends swinging, giggling and having picnics in the playset tower, but it was huge and took up most of our small backyard.
Once removed, we were left with a large yard area full of pebbles. I decided to bring some plastic Adirondack-type chairs we bought years ago and had stacked in the garage and set them around.
I added rusted firepit (I needed this firepit cover to keep rust away!) that I got on clearance during Black Friday a few years back, to create a seating area.
I dragged an old, rusted iron table that I found at a garage sale (and that I am sitting at right now as I write) to the pebbled area and grabbed a white chair to pull up to it from our front porch. I plan on spray painting the table white very soon!
It could use 3 more but for now, this works as a cozy outdoor office for me in the afternoons.
After setting up this little seating area, I found myself wanting to sit outside early mornings, before the heat set in, and would take my coffee and journal out sit in our new little area in our little backyard.
It made me happy.
I was especially happy and surprised at the view when I would look up.
Our very large playset with a very large tower blocked my ability to look up and see the magnificent magnitude of 2 old trees that we have in our backyard.
Now it is my favorite view. I look up and see veined branches going every which way, holding clusters of leaves that give comforting shade.
They create art and give glimpses of blue sky and bright white fluffy clouds. They nest birds that sing songs especially loud in the mornings.
How have I never looked up in all these 10 years of living in this home?
Who knew I would have a new favorite view?
It is like I unwrapped a surprise gift given to me God, one that He had been waiting for the perfect time to delight me with.
As an added bonus gift, he drops a special chair in my lap so that I could spend time in His.
My New Summer Wicker Hanging Chair
It was a gift from someone who knows me well and knows what would bring me delight and comfort and peace.
I have used it almost every morning and already had such precious time reading, journaling and laying my head back to enjoy the view and praise the One who created it.
It is a Better Homes and Gardens chair and the quality has made me very happy. The base is super sturdy, and the cushions are a dream, so cozy and comfortable.
When I want to lay my head back, I take the base cushion and switch it with the back cushion, and use it vertically to give my head a rest. When I want to be more upright, I use the cushions how they were intended.
The wicker is super strong, as is the chain it hangs by. I feel like I am in a little cocoon when I sit in it, and it has a gently swinging motion, just a little sway while you sit.
I think it is stylish and love that it is not an obnoxiously bright color, but a nice base color that blends with nature that one could add a bright pillow to if desired.
It was easy to assemble and came packed with care, with each piece wrapped tight and protected. It comes with hardware to bolt it to a deck, cement or long screws that twist into your lawn.
Hanging Prayer Chair
It is no surprise God gifted me with a specific place to pray this summer.
He also gifted me an amazing 40 Day Prayer Circle Challenge book from my Ali just a week or so before I got my chair. It made me smile when she started telling me about this prayer challenge she was doing.
I “just happened” to be reading the parent book of the book she was reading called “The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Fears.”
This book was brought to my attention years ago from a very special lady, one who left a legacy and whose words I cherish even more now that I know the end (that was really just the beginning) of her story.
She talked highly of it, and I tucked that knowledge away in the back of my brain.
The book came up on my alerts in Goodreads that it was on special for $2.99. God knows I like a good deal and knows when to drop one in my lap.
He then takes it a step further. We (my Ali and I) are sitting at chemo, blabbing away like we always do, and she tells me of the prayer challenge she is doing and the book title makes me smile as I recognized it.
I knew immediately God was about to do a connection, a bit of a God-kiss as we like to call them.
She got her phone out right that minute, ordered the 40 Day Prayer Challenge book for me right then and there, and it was delivered to my doorstep 2 days later, in prime time, God’s & Amazon’s.
He is pretty awesome like that. These connections he makes and how he provides exactly what is needed at the right time.
Growing In the Habit of Prayer in my Prayer Chair
I have been working on the habit of prayer for some time now.
I have a couple apps — PrayerMate & Echo— that have deeply enriched my prayer life, and now I feel like God is giving me the nudge to take it even deeper and the tools to do it with.
This 40 Day Prayer Circle Challenge book leads one to be aware of what God might want you to circle in prayer, and then do it consistently for 40 days.
I love the ongoingness of this type of praying. So often I will pray for something, but not persist in prayer.
We are to be persistent in prayer, this I am learning. Not just pray about something and then move on, but to pray through it and continue to, waiting and watching for God to work.
Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.
Colossians 4:2
I have been keeping track of things I have felt led to circle in prayer using my Echo prayer app.
I feel excited and expectant, and so very thankful for all the pieces that have fallen into place this summer to create such a special area to (literally) hang out and talk to God.
That really is what prayer is. Conversing with my God who created me, who knows me inside and out (and loves me anyway!), and wants me to carve out time to talk to him and ask him to do works that only he can do.
What about you? What do you think of this chair? Here is another one that is SO cute but double the price.
Do you have a special area where you can just hang out with the God who loves you?
Do you have a space that maybe, just maybe with a little care and attention can go from one that is not your favorite to one of your MOST favorites? Where in your home is this space?
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