In 2000, we purchased our first home. The apartment we had been living in was fully furnished so we needed to buy furniture for the new condo. Both my husband and I agreed that we loved the couches of friends (Mike & Becky!) because they were super comfortable. As we searched, we looked for that style and felt fortunate when we found something very similar. They only had a loveseat in stock and told us we needed to order the loveseat and couch so the fabrics would be from the same dye lot.
Do you remember when floral couches were all the rage?
While I had several different fabrics to choose from, I selected the floral pattern similar to our friends. After all, we thought we would be having children soon and figured the floral pattern would easily hide the dirty hand prints and Kool-Aid stains.
The couches arrived and we were pleased! They were super comfortable and hid a queen bed inside to accommodate extra house guests. They had big, fluffy pillows on the back to lean into and 4 additional pillows to lay on. When people came to visit, they always commented about how comfortable our couches were.
We struggled with infertility so children didn’t come for another 7 years after we purchased those couches. It is true that the floral print covered a multitude of spills and stains. Those pillows we loved so much? They are on the floor more than they are on the couch and now, they are quite lumpy.
We never expected to have those couches 14 years later. They are still quite comfortable but I despise them. I may never own anything floral ever again. Despite their age, they have held up amazingly well.
Ready to see our couch? Some of the pillows are missing because I hid them from the kids. 🙂
Last fall, I started shopping for new couches. I went to several furniture stores to browse and see what our options were. I found many beautiful sofas and loveseats. While they were pleasing to the eye, when I sat down on them, they were hard and unforgiving. I am quite confident no one would ever fall asleep on some of them because they felt like cardboard boxes. ICK! While I desperately desire new couches for our living room, I really want both style AND comfort…without a ridiculous price tag. And, since I really do NOT like shopping, it may be awhile until we get new couches.
As I contemplated the couch issue, I began to think about our spiritual lives. Too often, we get settled into a routine. We read a chapter or two of the Bible, say a quick prayer and we are on our way for the day. But, there is something missing. We want to make a change. However, we are comfortable with what we have. Making a change might mean getting up earlier or carving time out of our schedules for a Bible study at the church. It may mean that we fast occasionally as we stand in prayer over a difficult situation (you mean giving up food????). So, we settle into our “comfortable couch” and nothing changes. We are still frustrated with the situation but not enough to do something about it.
This example can also be carried over into areas of business, our jobs, exercise, food choices or even our dreams and goals. We desperately want something different but our comfort level has to change in order to get it.
I once heard Oprah Winfrey say that “We have now exactly what we want in life because if we really wanted something different, we would do things differently.” At first, I disagreed because I had bought into the idea that everything happens for a “reason” and we don’t always have control over our situations. What I have learned with age is that sometimes, the “reason” is making change in our lives that cause different results.
Does anyone want to go couch shopping with me?
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