The [GREEN] Comfy Couch; a Mini Blog (sorta)

Two blogs in a week? WHO AM I?!

Disclaimer: I don’t know why one photo centered and the rest didn’t and I can’t figure out how to fix it for the life of me.

Here we go. Come back in time a little with me.

It’s February 2019, I’m in the warm and friendly country of Taiwan. I’m experiencing all kinds of incredible moments within my spiritual, emotional and relational components of life. Every time I find myself in prayer, I’m seeing grand visuals. It’s how I process information, even visual descriptions are how I process the world. 

I find creativity and moments of understanding when I close my eyes and seek these images, my imagination has always been a great comfort for me.

So, back to Taiwan. 

I close my eyes and there’s three large panel windows and a lovely green couch. The windowsills are fitted with books of various colors and sizes. Light pours in and on this couch I lay with my head towards the right. On the farthest cushion is a visual representation of the Lord. I’m laying on his lap, he brushes my hair. It’s sweet, it is safe and it is restful. It’s a visualization of peace, much like a runner envisions his path to the end of a race to stay focused. When I found myself in overwhelm, I would seek that image and would find a place to ease into rest and love.

This was a really special gift for me.

When I would be in a more playful mood, wanting to feel connected and also DO something, I would close my eyes and find inspiration in the imagery of an empty house. I remember the first time I closed my eyes and it sprang forth. I gingerly stepped inside the home, just the living room with a small glimpse of a hallway. Again, huge window panels with hazy sunlight pouring in, the kind that specifically makes your eyes already a little heavy with a longing for the warmth and maybe a quick snooze.

The floors were old and wooden, as well as the rafters visible on the ceiling and a giant wooden wardrobe that sat in a corner to the left. I stepped forward to the sunlight only to have my hand grabbed and I was twirled in an exciting flurry only to know within my spirit that this too was the Lord. It was joyful and whimsical and so so loving. I felt chosen and wanted and delighted in. 

This too was a really special gift for me. 

I didn’t know much scripture or references to summon in 2019 and I would say I still don’t have a large memory bank to pull from. But as I get these sweet visuals I find that as time goes on that scripture exists to supplement the moments and it is faith building and honestly sometimes just downright incredible.

One of those moments happened just a couple nights ago and I was as weepy as ever.

Walk with me through two more references within my personal life and then I’ll tie this up, I promised a mini-blog, right?

In February 2020 during our debrief in Bali, Indonesia I closed my eyes and had another stream of visuals. I was in a suburban style house. I was busy, I could tell, I was older. It was fully furnished and looked well loved and well taken care of. A little girl bounced around attempting to get a task to help me out. Relentlessly and continuously she asked, and I laughed took a moment and bent down to her and gave her the greatest task a kid could be given. 

I told her the thing that would help me out the most was that she would go outside, play and enjoy being a kid. She offered one last extension of service to me and I shooed her out the door. I laughed, leaned against the entryway to a living room and felt the presence of the Lord say “She IS yours…” and I felt an overwhelming sense of enduring companionship, love and connectivity. It felt like I had a friend of many many years in my heart but this time no physical representation.

Later in 2020, the timeline is hazy but it was when I moved to Wrangell (Alaska), the imagery of the couch came back into my field of vision and it was tangibly played out in a couple of circumstances and I remember being in awe and feeling the overwhelming love of God as my imagination turned into reality. I’ll focus just on what I like to call the breadcrumb (to eternity), and that was upon arriving at the apartment of my second roommate on the island, Emma.

I hurried into her apartment to shake off the cold and low and behold I look up and see this:

 

 

I was so moved. It felt like a promise or an answered promise. It was SOMETHING.

It encouraged me day after day.

So now, here we are February 2022. We did something called a Prayer War three nights ago where all 26 of our squad walked around the house we are in to pray and worship. I felt compelled to read all of Ecclesiastes over the upstairs bathroom. Weird. I know. It was touching for me. There are probably more reasons than one but I know it was to lead me into the next moment that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

The book of the bible following Ecclesiastes is Song of Solomon. It’s a book I have yet to touch much because I haven’t felt like I’ve done enough digging to understand it. However, this night I took a bite:

“He
15 Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.

She
16 Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.
Our couch is green;
17 the beams of our house are cedar;
our rafters are pine.”

Song of Solomon 1:15-17

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I sat in disbelief and laughed to myself and felt so overwhelmed I didn’t quite know what to do. Our couch is GREEN and the beams of our house are cedar; our rafters are pine. Could you get any more intimate or CRAZY?! I was so moved. 

Knowing that this book is translated many different ways, this morning I set out to seek the commentary and studies a little more just on the first chapter. Here is what I found:

“When she says that their “couch is green” and “the beams of [their] house are cedar” and that “the rafters are pine,” it suggests that the two are enjoying the outdoors together, looking forward to the day when they would be under the same roof in the commitment of marriage.” 

(A poetry analysis by Allisa Corfman)

Other versions translate the couch to be “verdant” or more literally translated as their couch is the grass. It once again became special to me to think that this was re-ignited and highlighted during my time in Alaska. That time was such a beautiful experience of seeing God in nature in so many new ways. I had a favorite tree I would lay under in the grass near the catholic church in town. There were a lot of answered promises within the challenges I faced in 2020-2021. 

I’m thankful.

To make one final connection, I posted some photos from my instagram that I’ll link HERE. I found myself drawn to some paintings titled “Shepherdess” here at the art museum in Craiova. You can read about it in my post but the other commentary over Song of Solomon that poked at me said the following:

“iii. Others see this book primarily as a drama dealing with three characters; Solomon, a simple country shepherd, and the young maiden. The idea is that Solomon one day traveled through his kingdom and saw the young maiden and was captivated by her beauty. Though she was betrothed to the simple shepherd, Solomon brought her back to his palace and tried to win her affection with all lavish gifts and loving words. Though her resolve wavered, just before she gave in to Solomon’s attention and affection, she fled his palace and went back to her simple shepherd, her true love.”

(commentary found here)

Drawn to the idea of a shepherd and a shepherdess this season, this made me smile and I found comfort again in the imagery of the painting of a young girl sitting in the meadow with her flock, or maybe just resting and enjoying her simple shepherd’s flock in the distance. Her true love.

Am I a romantic or what? 

 

 

I don’t know if this is cherry picking or how this stacks up theologically or however you want to spin it, but you can’t deny how beautiful, special and just freaking cool that is. I’ll leave that all to your imagination, interpretation and devoted research.

I’m encouraged and I’m excited to see what else springs forward soon. We have a God that delights in us.

 

Thanks for reading 🙂

Here are some misc. images from Wrangell to give some added texture to the “verdant” visual