The Best Place to Be (01/04/2026)

If you know me, you know that one of my frequent responses to “How are you?” is “If I were any better, I’d be in a pub in Ireland with some of my best friends.” It’s my way of saying I’m in a good place and I’m doing well.

When I was a child, I loved to sit with my friend Brenda and pretend that we were rich beyond belief. We’d talk about the things we’d have and about our homes. We’d even sit with the Sears and Roebucks catalogs and pick out things we’d buy.

Then, as a young adult with a husband and three precious children, I came to realize that wealth and the amenities weren’t as important as an environment of love. I gave thanks for outgrowing my shallower Sears catalog dreams for dreams of a family together.

When cancer hit the first time in my 20s, I went even further away from my childish dream of opulence toward just living. And in those darker moments, I found that while not every moment was good, the best place to be was anywhere if the LORD was with me. In those moments, I found purpose and strength and direction all flowing from a transformative love. In that place, in the LORD, I found that I was a better wife, a better mom, a better daughter, a better sister, a better neighbor, a better me. And while I’d always loved Paul’s words to the Athenians, “Him in whom we live and move and have our being” took on a more personal meaning.

In my forties, I began dreaming of going to Ireland, the home of my peeps, the Boyles and the Rowans. I love being Irish, being hopeful, being energetic, wearing green, and growing shamrocks. That’s when I started saying “If I were any better, I’d be in a pub in Ireland with some of my best friends.”  It was me sharing a dream out loud with others.

I don’t think I will ever get to Ireland, but that’s all right. I’m coming to realize that “the best place to be” isn’t an issue of geography as much as an issue of awareness of the LORD in whom I live and move and have my being. The older I get, the more I realize that the best place to be is at peace, in the company of loved ones, and aware of the LORD in whom I live and move and have my being.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.