I heart chairs

I don't know why, but I love chairs. Maybe it's the way they seem to beckon to a tired body to come sit, relax, take a load off. Maybe it's the way a couple of well-placed chairs perfectly complement a long sofa, or the way they fill up those empty spaces in a room. I don't know why, I just really love chairs! (No coincidence that the last post discussing a peaceful life featured a picture of a chair...I didn't even do it consciously but that's how much I respond to chairs.) Anyway, here are a couple of fun chair facts about me:

• For my 16th birthday, I requested a rocking chair. Nope, not a car, but a chair! I still remember the Sunday afternoon we went to get it. We'd gone to Olive Garden for my birthday meal, then we went to Kittle's and walked around until I found this white wicker rocking chair. I spent many a teenaged hour rocking in that chair and yakking on the phone. That chair knows a lot of secrets...


• During a stay in Charleston, SC (one of my favorite places in the world), I went antiquing one day alone while Leslie had a shoot. I found these precious little silver Queen Anne chair bookends and immediately grabbed them. When I was purchasing them, I got into a very long conversation with the antique store owner, Barbara (yes, a year later and I still remember her name). That summer happened to be a very difficult time in my life, and Barbara was very encouraging and told me she could see in my eyes that I was a beautiful person, and that happiness would come to me very soon. Well, happiness came to me a couple months after that! Every time I look at these little chair bookends, I think of her and her charming Southern way. The way Southern women can look you in the eye and peg you...it's AMAZING.


• At my wedding a couple Saturdays back, I insisted on a few bridal portrait shots taken outside under a tree in -- you guessed it -- a chair. I really hope some of those come out nicely!

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't just like "chairs." As with everything else in life, I have specific taste! I like traditional, classic chairs. Chairs that whisper of olde world and Europe, chairs that are comfortable but not crazy. Chairs you can relax in but also show off (just in case Southern Living is begging to photograph your home...one of these days, Becky!).

And how could a girl live a peaceful life without the comfort of a beautiful chair or two?

(caption: beautiful French Country chair available at Pierre Deux.com)

So...a peaceful life, you say?

Yes, I say. A great buzzword I hear all the time is "simplicity." I read and hear and see things about living a simpler life. Sounds great, but really, does anyone have a simple life? Does such a thing exist? I don't think so, which is perhaps why we're all keening for it. In the New Testament, Paul says that in whatever state he finds himself in, to be content. Whether he is abased or whether he abounds (I love the alliteration there, go Paul!), he was able to find contentment.

Another way for me to think of contentment is to be at peace. Just yesterday in church, we sang that great hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul." Of course, no one automatically reaches this state of soul-wellness. And to me, this is the very struggle of life. Soul-wellness. Once we have found the purpose and use of our souls in Jesus, we have to then daily strive for soul-wellness. And the end product of soul-wellness? Oh yes, it's a peaceful life. (I'm an English major, I have to button things up in an essay.)

I was just telling my husband yesterday that what I want most for us and our future children is to have a peaceful life, and for that to be manifested in a warm and loving and comfortable home, where both discipline and grace abide. Where husband and wife/mom and dad stay madly in love, where the kiddos know the joy of structure and seasons. Where beauty and elegance abound, where words are respected and well-spoken. Where God's presence is always felt but never forced. Where family and friends are welcomed and cherished. Where evil pauses at the threshold and then retreats. Where peace exists and thrives.

I've had many-a-blog in my day, but I'm finally at a place in life where my journey is not so much a moving target anymore. I embrace this new life, this new calm, this new me, wholeheartedly. In doing so, I want to explore this peaceful life through writing. I hope you enjoy what you read here!

The first of many pictures, I hope

My sister took this picture of me and my groom stealing a kiss at our wedding reception. The picture barely does justice to the joy we feel in being married to each other.