Our Happy Places

It’s not about the “place” of bodies, but the place of love and, really, that can be any place: at home or there or here or anywhere. It’s not about the weather: rain, sunshine, snow, or storm. It’s not about the time of year: winter, spring, summer or fall, or the new year (though crossing over to 2021 sure brings hope for happy, healthy, harmonious and healing days again. My happy place is with these people. My people. My grands! Just look at those smiles! Any place with them or near them is my “happy place”. I can hear you grandparents shouting a hearty “AMEN”! This little party came from a “happy place” desire that I randomly blurted out at Thanksgiving when my son asked “Mom, what would you like for Christmas?” Out came – “For us all to be together sometime before Christmas!” A few days later, my son gave us the dates! Sweet! Heart full of “happy place” thoughts! Secret Santa gift exchange was hilarious -- trying to guess who gave each one their gift. Then Nana’s “White Elephant” exchange (all gifts exchanged were from Santa Nana) at the Galleria Mall Christmas Tree. Nana’s one-and-a-half-hour family photo shoot – well maybe not such a “happy place” for the grands when we’d say “let’s try one more location”! There are 13 of us to wrangle up! I share these personal highlights today to emphasize “happy place”. You can see that I make it my number one priority to embrace those who are still with me on this side of heaven. I’m running my race with theirs and oh, the comfort and joy it brings me. Do these family members agree on everything? NOT! Do they have the same likes and dislikes when it comes to food or movies or games or sports events? NOT! But they all agree they are in a “happy place” when it comes to celebrating each other and their achievements. They agree that they are here for each other – no matter what! We all agree that the little issues that try to divide us are nothing compared to what or WHO that unites us! We all want to be happy and have places of happiness, but sometimes trying to find happiness can be a challenge. Oftentimes, we search for it in all the wrong places. But, the answer is much simpler. The places, the people, and the sweet times can represent being in a happy place, but far more important is wherever we are and whoever we are with, shouldn’t determine our “happy place”. The Psalmist said this: "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 144:15) He also said this: “Happy are those who live pure lives, who follow the LORD’s teachings. Happy are those who keep His rules, who try to obey Him with their whole heart.” (Psalm119:1,2) Our “happy place” is wherever we are when our WHOEVER is God and we listen and heed His wise counsel. Welcome to MY "happy place". And, God bless you and yours with Christmas joys in your “happy place” too!