“The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be mine abode,
And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest
(While others go and come),
No more a stranger or a guest,
But like a child at home.”
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
My word for the year is “intentionality” and as I’ve been asking the Lord where He wants me to become more intentional, he keeps bringing two things to mind: my home and my heart as His home.
In this pursuit to set my focus on what really matters in this season, hygge (HYOO-guh) is heavy on me. It’s a danish word that has no English equivalent, but gives the idea of cozy comfort and peaceful presence. I want my home to be a place of hygge for my family and all who enter in - that they would find rest and not be a stranger or a guest, but a child at home. I want my heart to be a place of cozy comfort for the Lord, a place He is welcomed and has room to bring his peace and rest His presence in me.
Holy hygge.
The Lord has shown me so many practical steps to create holy hygge…currently it is decluttering my home and my heart and mind. There is too much "stuff" crowding my peace. Cluttered schedules, cluttered spaces, cluttered thoughts. So the Lord and I have been sitting down every day going room by room through my home and room by room through my heart, rooting out what doesn't belong and focusing on cherishing what does. And while I'm so far from done - it's going to take all my life - there has been so much peace in the process.
So much holy hygge.
Is God doing something similar in your life? Are you feeling resistant or welcoming to the idea of slowing down and letting go of your "stuff"? For so many of us, it's not just physical stuff that's crowding our peace - although that happens often - it's the busyness. The schedule that doesn't slow down. The groups, the sports, the meetings, the errands, the whatever. It seems almost every night of the week is full! The idea of sitting down to dinner around the table as a family seems distant. But what if God is calling you to set some things down for a season? To declutter your life and make more room for Him and His peace that doesn't abide with chaos, but in place of it. Are you willing to yield your agenda to His own? Are you able to give Him a wholehearted "YES!" and slow your schedule, declutter your mind and heart, along with maybe a room or two, and make space for the peace of God to transcend?
I'm working on that today. Some days are more challenging than others, but I can promise you this...I have never once regretted saying "YES" to Jesus. Never once.
What is God doing in your life lately?
If you want to do some more reading on this idea of Holy Hygge, there's a GREAT book I'd recommend by Jamie Erickson called, "Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow". I highly recommend it. You can use my link to get yourself a copy...it's an easy read and so encouraging! https://amzn.to/3IreSTU
*I do make a small commission if you choose to buy it through my link - at no cost to you, BUT even if you don't use my link, I highly recommend it. If you can't afford it today, maybe check your local library to see if they have it on the shelf!