The Brown Chairand Jesus!

Hi friend,

I need to tell you about the brown chair. (And yes... there’s a Jesus moment in this. Stay with me. 😄)

So the plan was simple. Take my son to the thrift store. Pick out a decent recliner. Bring it home like a normal, responsible parent. Instead... I sent two teenagers alone. What could possibly go wrong?

They came back with a chair.

Not just any chair. A brown chair. An ugly brown chair. A “this-chair-has-seen-things” kind of brown chair. My 14-year-old? Loved it instantly. Of course he did.

We had just repainted his room this beautiful off-white, his loft bed espresso... and apparently his interior design vision was: ✨ “Let’s match it with something that looks like it came from 1997 and has a backstory.” ✨

They proudly rolled it out of the minivan and said,
“Look, Mom! It’s on wheels!”

Oh.
It was.

I calmly suggested we leave it outside and... you know... cleanse it. We scrubbed that thing FOUR times. FOUR. Times.

Then came the next problem. It wouldn’t fit through the door. Naturally. I was this close to saying,
“Let's go look at some other options...” When suddenly—victory cries from the bedroom door. “I GOT IT IN!” I don’t know how. I don’t want to know how. But there it sat. In all its... glory.

Then my son plugs it in. “Mom. It’s electric.” The footrest goes up. He was ecstatic. Then he presses another mystery button. And suddenly...THE CHAIR STARTS LIFTING HIM UP AND PUSHING HIM OUT.

His face. I will never recover. 🤣

I said, “Honey... that chair is designed to help people who have a hard time standing up.”

And you know what he said? “That’s AWESOME.” Of course he did. The only issue left? That thrift store smell. Let’s just say... we introduced that chair to an industrial amount of Febreze.

And now? His room smells like a candle aisle at Target. Life is good.

Here’s what hit me later...

That chair?

It was literally designed to lift someone up when they couldn’t do it themselves.

And I couldn’t help but think...

How many of us are trying to do life like we don’t need help?

Pushing through.
Holding it together.
Smiling on the outside while feeling worn out on the inside.

But God never asked us to live like that.

This Week’s Faith Habit

Once a day, pause and ask:

“God, where am I struggling right now?”

Then simply say:

“I need Your help here.”

No long prayer.
No perfect words.

Just honesty.

And then—this is the part we don’t always do—
receive His help.

Sit with Him.
Breathe.
Let Him meet you there.

You don’t have to carry everything.

You don’t have to force yourself up.

He lifts.

Also... if you ever send teenagers to a thrift store alone...

Just know.

You might end up with a life lesson.

And a brown chair. 🤣