Our Happy Place
by Jane Josephs
“…the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” –Prov. 15:15b
Do you have a happy place? A place that makes you feel content, comfortable, and just plain happy inside? My daughter-in-law would likely tell you that her happy place is camping. A few years ago, she and our son bought an over-the-truck-cab tent set up and have had many happy moments camping at traditional as well as BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sites. The only downside? The dogs can’t climb the ladder.
I guess I would have to say that I don’t have a happy place so much as a happy time; that is, any time I’m with my children and grandchildren. They’ve given me hours and hours of happy memories with many more to come, I hope. Any time I’m with them becomes our own special happy place!
The Bible doesn’t use the word “happy” often (only 28 times in the KJV). Instead, it uses the word “joy” to describe that deep, lasting state of well-being that we feel from knowing and trusting in God. But “happy” can also be interchanged with “blessed” (as it is in the Beatitudes, depending on which translation you’re reading). And that gives me a warm, deeply contented feeling, too!
Do you remember the old nursery school song that went: If you’re happy and you know it…? Feeling happy may depend on circumstances but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t want to know and experience it. And I especially appreciate what those happy feelings do to our hearts and faces: “a happy heart makes the face cheerful” (Prov. 15:13a) and “the cheerful heart has a continual feast” (Prov. 15:15b).
“The joy of the Lord is your strength,” Nehemiah told the Israelites after the temple walls were rebuilt and the law was read by the priest Ezra (Neh. 8:10). It’s our strength too, especially when it’s mixed with a little “happy.”
Dear Lord Jesus, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You laugh, You cry; just as we do. And You make all things beautiful in Your time. Thank You for the gift of happy places and the people who inhabit them. Help us honor You in all we say and do for the glory of Your name, Amen.