Creating a Prayerful Sustainable Hygge Home

Episode 3

We were concerned if everyone would fit in the welcoming room! We catered seating for 12 persons, there were 16 of us. We had to bring in extra seating from the front garden. Thank God, the welcoming room opens into the front garden. We placed a two level wide table to accommodate any snacks, persons would bring to share, we had to place an additional small table to place all the appetizing delicacies.

A hygge home is also a hospitable home and hosting our prayer group at home was certainly being prayerful and hygge. I also had the opportunity to share my orange marmalade which received many compliments.

I also made my second attempt at baking a sourdough loaf. It was better than the first, a few air bubbles, a crispy crust and a sour taste but still way too dense. I am wondering if I should increase the percentage of starter to make it lighter and fluffy. Still one has a great capacity to endure one’s own creation, and I continued to eat it with my home made marmalade, and a glass of my hand squeezed orange juice. I found it delicious.

We picked up on our morning walks and we able to complete a cumulative 70km for the year. February has not been as chaotic and frenzied as January. I remember once going on a Caribbean sea cruise, and being surprised that every evening as we gazed out into the ocean, from our small balcony, the sea would be different. Eight evenings, eight different moods of the sea.

So it is with life! Every day, every week and every month and year is different. The challenge is to be prayerful sustainable and hygge in all circumstances, to take life as it comes. As a close friend often reminds me - somedays are diamond, some days are stone. So far, in February, we have made up for lost walking distance.

We attended an International Christian Meditation prayer session, on Zoom, from our back terrace and other participants were thrilled with the greenery and birds. Often it takes others’ comments for us to truly appreciate our blessings.

Still the demands of having to commute for what can be 1 hour to 2 hours in morning and evening traffic for as many as 4 to 5 times for the week, to the inner city parish is exhausting, and even though I thoroughly enjoy the pastoring experience, I am looking forward to the end of my contract at the end of June. Then I hope to return to serving in my neighbourhood, with the benefit of the experience, with a more sustainable lifestyle.

Sandee has started back her gardening with more vigor. I am an enthusiastic encourager and assistant. She has started placing plants in another space of our backyard, I have named it - A Hope Garden, in recognition of Pope Francis Jubilee Year of Hope. She has also gifted me Pope Francis’ autobiography, titled Hope. It is an enjoyable read and certainly gives a background insight to his papal ministry.

I have come to realize that a prayerful sustainable hygge lifestyle is not dependent on the original physical dimensions of one’s home, it is what we make of what we have. It is an attitude, a feeling and a vision that drives our behaviour.

It is slowing down and being attentive to life and to surroundings. It is enjoying the lttle things in life, a cup of tea, a listening conversation, reading and meditating on the Bible, counting blessings and having gratitude for the little joys of life. It is trying to make as minimum waste as possible, caring for the surroundings and caring for the flora and fauna. It is trying to be as self-reliant as possible, growing our own food, composting. Eliminating shopping as lifestyle and the clutter it creates. Please share with me your thoughts and your successes and challenges.

I have created a new membership program to help those of us who struggle with anxiety and negative thinking habits to become happier and stronger. Visit it at this link New Membership Program LINK

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