Yesterday morning, it wasn\u2019t that cold outside but the winds and heavy rain beckoned me to the warmth from my fireplace. It is definitely my \u201csweet spot\u201d. In this busy, hectic, and noisy world we live in, there are just times when we need to find a quiet place for our souls to be soothed and our bodies to be refreshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a packed-full day of busyness, many retreat to their easy chair, but the clamor still goes on with the TV blaring and little children doing what they do \u2013 being noise-makers! I remember when I worked at the University of Manitoba and I carried the weight of a department of over 80 employees, bearing the responsibility of their performance and the department\u2019s success. There were times I needed to find a few minutes relief to regroup, refresh, and reload. My \u201csanctuary\u201d was the bathroom stall! Oh, sweet \u201creset\u201d! Just a little talk with Jesus made such a difference in my mindset and composure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sanctuary sign on my fireplace hearth was given to us by a dear friend on October 10, 2010 (the date is on the back). That was right at the time when we made the decision for my precious husband to go on hospice. Indeed, my friend knew that we needed to be reminded of the \u201csanctuary\u201d we have in our relationship with God. We embraced that sign and its meaning. We knew that God, Himself, was our place of refuge and shelter from the storm we were in. We did have such peace and joy throughout the remaining days of my Sweetheart’s life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The politics. The news. The hate. The debates. The worry. I turn the news on and then I turn it off quickly. It reminds me why I rarely, if ever, watch those live news broadcasts anymore. I don\u2019t have the stomach OR heart for it all. The combative nature in people these days and us vs. them mentality wears on my spirit. I don\u2019t quite know what to make of it all, but as I sit down to write loving, comforting words for myself and for my readers, God places my attention on a little sign that says, \u201cSANCTUARY\u201d with a scripture reference of Mark 6:31 \u201cCome away to a secret place and rest for while\u201d that reels me back in to what matters most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It might be that you are craving a \u201csanctuary\u201d today. You may have young children jumping off the furniture. Their sibling rivalry is at peak performance. Your spouse may be overloaded in worries and cares. Your to-do list is way too long to stop in at the \u201csanctuary\u201d. I know that atmosphere. It is very familiar to me. But what became the most familiar to me and the priority in my home was making God — my deepest source of meaning, unconditional love, and real peace. It can be found — even in small increments of time. I promise you, when our priority is, first and foremost, going to the sanctuary sometime throughout our day, it will create a heart that is settled and peace-filled because of the presence of a holy, loving, awe-inspiring God. When we ask Him to settle into our homes, our workplaces, and even in the marketplaces, we will find Him waiting for us. He is available, present and more life-giving and peace-giving than everything else combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, I offer you a glance at my sign. SANCTUARY. Doesn\u2019t that sound like a relief, hearing it put like that? That lovely, reassuring place of safety. Relief from all the ugliness out there. A break from it all. I can hear Him saying: \u201cCome away with me! Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.\u201d Mark 6:31-33 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday morning, it wasn\u2019t that cold outside but the winds and heavy rain beckoned me to the warmth from my fireplace. It is definitely my \u201csweet spot\u201d. In this busy, hectic, and noisy world we live in, there are just times when we need to find a quiet place for our souls to be soothed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12582,8725,4329,642,12581,1065,190,12584,501,7094,2219,12583,3543,555,783],"class_list":["post-9663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bathroom-stall","tag-busyness","tag-come-away-with-me","tag-fireplace","tag-mark-631-33","tag-peace-filled","tag-person","tag-place","tag-presence","tag-quiet-place","tag-refuge","tag-rest-for-a-while","tag-sanctuary","tag-shelter","tag-sweet-spot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9665,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9663\/revisions\/9665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}