Favorite Places

 

I have been thinking lately of the power of favorite places. You know what I mean, don’t you? The power of those places that stick in our minds and in our hearts over the years, those places associated with people and with experiences that are, somehow, forever a part of us.

As a child, my family did not travel much. We took one long trip as I grew up; we drove from Arkansas to Washington DC to see my cousins. It was a great adventure and I remember the battles between we three siblings in the back seat on that long drive. But we did go to Texas almost every year to Six Flags over Texas. To this day, I can’t pass that place without joyful memories of staying in a hotel and riding all kinds of scary rides with my daddy. Though I now live close to the park and could go often. I don’t visit. But it is forever a favorite place because of the special, playful times with my dad.

Across the years of my adult life, my favorite places seem to be those places I worship and serve with the people God brings into my life. It isn’t so much about the windows and the crosses as it is about what happens in those places. One of those favorite places will forever be a windowless warehouse where a congregation first began. Another favorite place in my memory is a gym where many funny things happened as we worshiped under the basketball goal. Another is a magnificent, soaring sanctuary that raised everyone’s eyes to heaven when they walked through the open doors.

The details of the physical places don’t matter. It is the lives that merge in those places that give it the sacred place of favorite. It is the memories made there that matter. Each is a blessing and a gift.

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” So we read in the letter to the Hebrews. Go to your favorite place and make some memories this week.

Peace.