Matthew 6:6

The Message (MSG)

⁶ “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

Counting down the days to Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas always trigger energy, excitement and “busyness” in our home. The joy of generations gathering to enjoy time together and talk about nearly everything under the sun is wonderful. In preparation for these days, time passes and quiet time is missed and stress sets in. Finding a balance with all that plays through each day is so important. The above version of Matthew 6:6 gives such clear direction to finding God’s grace…and personal balance during a very busy time. It is worthy of a refrigerator magnet!

By connecting to that grace, we also have a wonderful opportunity to find an enriched time with others. Through grace, we can listen, share and love more fully. We find a connection that allows the busy, end of year days to be gifts to others and ourselves. Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares the value of solitude in making those precious connections:

Only when one is connected to one’s own core is one connected
to others, I am beginning to discover.  And, for me, the core,
the inner spring, can best be refound through solitude.

May you find that place of grace and solitude so open each day to the joy of life through the end of the year and always.