Today’s word is refuge. I like how these words are just falling into place to describe my day. Today, the boys and I drove to Illinois to spend the next 5-6 days with my family. What is a refuge? A place of safety and security.

The leading questions for today are: What is a physical place where you find refuge? What is a mental or spiritual place where you find refuge?

I have several physical spaces I find refuge. When I was younger, I absolutely loved sitting down by the pond behind my parents’ house and watching the water. I loved sitting in the living room and losing myself in my thoughts. I loved sitting out in the backyard soaking up the rays surrounded by my mom’s beautiful gardens. I loved sitting at Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Tuesday afternoons talking with them after school. I loved sitting in my Grandma’s living room home on college visits and talking about anything and everything.

As we started to travel, I picked out my favorite places on each vacation. Up on Garvin Heights in Winona; in the Cove in LaJolla, California; on the beach in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida; On a path in Chattanooga, Tennessee, riding bikes at our hotel in Strasburg, Pennsylvania; in the desert at Joshua Tree National Park; stepping out of the car in the Badlands in South Dakota; riding a doubledecker tour bus in Gettysburg, soaking up all of the history around me; the list goes on.

I guess you could say, I can find refuge in many spots. All of those spots listed above bring me back to a sense of peace, awe, wonder, and happiness.

At home in Illinois, I love sitting at the middle stool at the island in the kitchen as I did for years growing up (after the addition in our kitchen), sitting on the front porch, swinging on the swing on our old swing set, being out in my mom’s gardens, and sitting at the kitchen table where I sit typing this out.

In my home, I love sitting at the kitchen table. I find peace and comfort there as that’s where I do all of our family planning, menus, grocery lists, etc. I also find peace at the end of a day sitting in our loving room surrounded by pictures of our little family.

At school, I am able to find refuge in a dark classroom with quiet instrumental music playing. It’s amazing what I can accomplish there in those surroundings. I feel at peace.

These days of my life, I find refuge down by the Mississippi River in the spring, summer, and fall. I find refuge with my little family of four. I find refuge in the giggles, laughter, and shrieks when my kids are playing outside.

Looking back on this post as I finish tonight’s entry, I am realizing that I have been lucky and blessed in my life to be able to have so many places, spots, memories, and thoughts that bring me refuge.

“But the words of Psalm 91 remind us today that our refuge is not a fixed location. Our refuge is found in God, and so when God is on the move, we are empowered to get up and get moving as well, taking part in God’s work in the world, knowing that God, our refuge and our strength, goes with us.”