There are places in our lives that are carefully wrapped up inside of us for safekeeping. Each of them is a personal treasure. When we are living our fast-paced, intense lives we need safe places. If we are sad or frustrated it helps to have a memory full of joy and peace we can sit with for a while…even if it is just for a few minutes.

The day our art class hiked to a lavender field is engraved in the sweetest of ways in my memory. I could smell it long before I could see it. The anticipation of what was creating that luscious, other-worldly scent was almost as good as seeing the field itself. I will never forget those moments. But they are also an invitation I can return to when what I anticipate in my day (or soon) is far from sweet. As I live in the reality of potentially hard circumstances I am also invited to take a few minutes with the Lord and remember a time that brings me such joy.

This is a mini painting I did of my time in Provence.

Where is that place for you?
Where were you when you felt pure joy?
What were you doing when you had supernatural peace?

The pace of life these days tries to demand we rush and run. But we DON’T HAVE TO. We don’t. The world will not end if we miss a meeting or a practice. No one is handing out medals to us for doing everything and checking all the boxes. We can live powerfully. We can make powerful choices.

This invitation to take a few minutes in the middle of stressful places is one way to step toward more powerful living.

Lean into what you love.

This is a mixed media mini painting I did of a lighthouse.

I love lighthouses and all they stand for. But I haven’t been to one yet. I have a beautiful book about them and there are times I will pull that book out for a few minutes and slow down. Sketching them and painting them has been a way I have chosen respite in the sea of tribulation.

Paddleboarding has been a way I have gotten filled up. Quietly navigating water all by myself with the Lord truly recharges my batteries. I sense His presence with me so clearly when I am out on the water. But I don’t have to go paddleboarding to enjoy the same feeling. Sometimes I just recall what it feels like to be with Him on the water and my breathing slows down. I release the tension in my shoulders and my racing brain recalibrates.

Where would you go right now?

The beach?
The desert?
The mountains?

Oh, the mountains! I am a mountain girl through and through. I grew up going to the Smokey Mountains to camp twice a year. That camp changed my life on so many levels. I think of it and am immediately touched every time.

Our son, Brady, married his wife, Sohaila, in the Tetons National Park. At this very moment, I am transported in my thinking to that scene. Tears fill my eyes and I smile as I see them under those Kissing Trees.

After my Dad died we took a trip to the mountains as a family. We were all 6 piled in the car driving across a high ridge seeing the autumn leaves and the song “Live Like You Were Dying” came on the radio. The gratitude I felt at that moment is exactly what I am feeling right now (and I can’t see the computer screen for crying.) One moment of thought of that place shifted something in me.

Do you see what I am saying?

Yes, life is hard. It can be exhaustingly busy.

But we don’t have to be slaves to the busy. We can buck the system. We can choose to rest for a moment. We can step away from the crowd and allow the Lord to meet with us and have a reset.

So where are your sweet spots? ( Tell me in the comments.)

If you have trouble remembering them ask the Lord to help you.

Take time and think of them today so that you will have them as resources for when things are harry and hurried. Then you can pull them out of your pocket anytime you need them and meet with our Good Father for a moment of respite even in the midst of the busiest of seasons.

Featured