So many people say that, don’t they? I know I do! The phrase has its own signs, t-shirts, and even songs. For me? It’s even more than just a phrase, it is a place of happyness(sic).

A place where I connect so deeply with God, that sometimes I wonder if I really feel Him other places. A place where I sit, covered in SPF1000, under the warmth of the Son and listen to the crashing of the waves. There’s nothing as tranquil as the sounds of the sea smashing against the shore, or even the soft back and forth of a tidal pool. Seeing a blank horizon and wondering just what’s on the other side.

I think about the first explores to take that brave journey to a distant land.(NOT getting into the ramifications of the explorers here) Is the earth actually flat (NOT getting into a flat earther discussion here either)? Just looking at the horizon and seeing ENDLESS possibilities. Maybe looking for their “Happy Place.” My dad and I were sitting on the patio in St. Maarten one morning doing our quiet time together and he said- “See the horizon line? It’s 15 miles away from you right now.” Now whether that’s true or not, I can’t really say. My dad used to say false statements so VERY convincingly that they sounded like truth – those were called Bill O’Connell’s Faux Fax. Anyway – 15 miles away or not, I just saw possibilities, dreams, options, exotic distant lands….adventure!

Maybe the beach isn’t your “Happy Place”, maybe it’s an open field on a cold November morning in a deer stand, a boat on the middle of a summer lake, or the mountains in the Fall? Can’t go wrong with any of those places, what those places are are reminders of the beauty of God and His creation. The vast differences He’s made on our planet so His children can find their “Happy Places”.

Now my goal is to find that “Happy Place” when I’m not at the beach. Find it where distractions are easy, the busyness of life can get in the way and I forgot all the warmth, rest and relaxation I found in the sand. How do we cultivate the “Happy Place” feeling all the time? How do we find that same feeling while sitting in traffic trying NOT to loose our cool or elbow deep in the 17th diaper change of the day?

It’s found in the stillness. It’s found in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know, I Am.” It’s sitting in the stillness and waiting on Him. It’s allowing ourselves a little time in the morning to have a cup of coffee with Him and wait on Him to bring HIS peace to start our day. It’s taking a breath after the person cuts us off in traffic and waiting to wage a tongue lashing to the “offender” (I’m really bad at that waiting) It’s allowing God to be the “Happy Place” for us. It’s quite an exchange. We are His “Happy Place”, we should make Him ours.

We are His delight! He so desires to be with us and be our “Happy Place”. When we feel the pull and joy from Him, no matter where we are, we can find that “beach” feeling anywhere. Sometimes it may feel as though you’ve had to wait a L-O-N-G time for that stillness with Him, but trust me, it’s coming. He loves to be with His children, spend time with them and rest with them. Find Him and you’ll find a “Happy Place”.