The Red Chair

Those of you who know me personally are probably familiar with The Red Chair. Its my nursing chair, the glider we purchased for the nursery before Lilly was born. Its a lovely chair, soft and comfy, and easy for every member of the family to snuggle into and take a nap. It is perfect for feeding a baby in the middle of the night, and dozing off with her in your arms. It is perfect for reading stories to both a 3- and 4-year-old in the evening. It is vibrant and lovely, and it has been in our home as long as our children have been in our home. The red chair has become my one piece of permanence in an ever changing household.

Further, the red chair has become an important tradition. Each child has her portrait taken on the red chair for her birthday. Birthdays came quite frequently when they were infants. First weekly, then monthly, and now yearly. Here is Lilly at 7 months old, in our home in St. Louis:



Here is Sophia at 13 months old, in our first Shanghai home - in Lu Jia Zui:

The Red Chair photos give us a beautiful way to watch our children grow and to trace the homes where they lived, as well as an exceptional number of vibrant portaits.

When we eventually move to DC for Dave to begin his new career, we will live in temporary housing. The State Department will pack up our current home in two shipments: 1-UAB or Unaccompanied Air Baggage, and 2-HHE or Household Effects. We are privy to most of the shipping rules already, as this is a government job and those bureaucratic bits and pieces are public information. We know that our UAB will fly from Shanghai to Washington, DC and will meet us at our temporary home. We know that this is severely limited by weight, but that tiny babies get a few extra allowances referred to as a layette. However, these allowances are meant for small things like collapsed cribs and strollers. The HHE will include everything else in the house, up to 18,000 pounds. Friends shipped their entire furnished apartment for a family of 5 and came to only 8,000 pounds, so we'll be sending everything we own - both here and in St. Louis. The catch is that this shipment will sit in a storage unit somewhere until we reach our first post. That is, we will not see any items sent in our HHE for over 1 year.

Rules quite clearly state that furniture may not be included in the UAB (the one we will have with us in Washington).
Rules clearly state that we will not have access to our HHE while in Washington (it may never arrive in the DC area; if it does, it will cost around $500 to open the door to the unit)

But how can Jake live her first year of life without the red chair?

I am distraught about this.

I hate to think that I will have no Red Chair Pictures of Jake from the time she is 2 months old until after her 1st birthday.

Dave is spending the week in Hong Kong. Alone in my bed, in a dark room last night, the significance of this hit hard. I cried. This is simply not okay with me. After crying long and hard, I began to wonder if maybe I was upset about something more. I began to realize something difficult.

We chose to be where we are, and we knew that this would be a difficult choice. We knew that having a baby while changing international careers would be difficult. We knew that life in the Foreign Service would be difficult. We also knew that through faith and prayer, we would still be fine. "The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." - Isaiah 58:11 I know that whatever challenges arise, I will be like a well-watered garden in the desert. Everything will be alright.

Until I faced what is clearly the first of many practical sacrifices.

So, feeling rather trivial, I mentioned this in Bible Study this morning. I mentioned The Red Chair to the ladies because we were discussing prayer, all that Ask and You Shall Receive stuff that everyone believes until it comes time to really ask for something. In fact, we read an even better verse: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 This time, it still says to present all of our requests to God. But the next line does not say they will be granted - the next line says that we will have peace.

So, I asked the ladies. Should I pray for The Red Chair? And unequivocally, they said yes. God doesn't care how trivial our needs, we decided. If we need something, we should bring it to God. The worst thing we can receive is peace.

And so I pray for The Red Chair. And I have faith that God will somehow answer this prayer. Honestly, I am rather curious what He's got up His sleeve - as this one seems nearly impossible. But I will pray. And I ask those who pray for us to pray as well - please pray that we still have our Red Chair.

The worst we can receive is peace.