Feb 2, 2018 filed under Hope.

Woman breathing fresh air on the beach

My friend Melanie is busy. She’s an author, speaker, does conferences for Catholic women and, oh yeah, has a full-time job.

What she said at dinner last week stopped me in my tracks: “I’m perfectly happy where I am right now.”

Have you ever said that?

…I’m not sure I have.

I had just been telling her my plans for the next few months: the talks and retreats I’d been invited to speak at and how I wanted to finally finish a book I’ve been (mostly not) writing for years. I was focusing on what I hadn’t done. And it made me a little agitated.

“Perfectly happy where I am right now” has been wafting like fresh air through my mind ever since she said it.

Some of us are self-inflicted busy. A project sounds fun so we jump on it and when the time comes say, “How am I going to wedge this in?” But that doesn’t stop us from piling up to-do lists that would crush us if they fell over.

Melanie didn’t mean that she had reached the heights of sainthood. She didn’t mean that serving others by sharing her gifts was too hard or wasn’t worth it. Just the opposite—she meant that she trusts God’s plans for her more than her tally of accomplishments. She trusts that God’s fullness is greater than her need. It’s trusting that a year from today, she can choose to be “perfectly happy” wherever God has brought her to that day.

In Psalm 95, God says, “They do not know my ways, so they can’t enter into my rest.” Our pride makes us shun God’s rest. Humility opens us to rest our souls in Him. Humility recognizes that God has led us to where He wants us today, and that our value lies not in how much we get done, but in how much we let the freshness of His love into this moment.

Thanks for the reminder, Melanie. I needed that.

And maybe you do, too :)

Love always,
Rose

P.S. There’s more Melanie at melanierigney.com

9 Responses to “Surprised by Fresh Air”

  1. Terry Wollersheim

    What a refreshing idea! We do get caught up it ‘doing’ & ‘busyness’. Resting where I am & trusting God’s will & timing always is the best path. We just sometimes need to be reminded of that. Thank you, Rose.

  2. Nancy

    Exactly how I feel — blessed and perfectly happy in God’s plan for me right now. I often wondered if I was abnormal in that. Guess not. Thanks for explaining it!

  3. Bonnie Onomastico

    Beautiful reminder! Looking forward to seeing you at HDCCW convention in April and hearing the message you have for us!

    • Rose Folsom

      Thanks, Bonnie. Can’t wait to share inspiration and practical tips with your lovely Harrisburg PA CCW members on how to cultivate the garden of our souls. I’ll check for the registration link on your FB page and share it on mine!
      Rose

  4. Sal

    This insight to trust in God is an important reminder that He is a personal God and dwells within us. He is active in our lives. Unlike what many people think, things do not happen at random. When people come into our lives, this is not by mistake or by chance. I’m sort of in a resting place now and I like it very much!