A Placemaker

 "You are a placemaker. You are making a place." The words towards the end of the email grab me but not in the way their author intended. It was a quick email sent from a supporter of small towns. A video was offered for a small fee that goes into this topic of making a place in your own small town, but I'm not interested in the video. I'm caught and held fast by the words in the email. "You are a placemaker. You are making a place."

I am a placemaker. I am making a place. What fitting words for a mother who has recently attended an online conference on "Awakening Wonder" in my home! What fitting words for a blogger who has been posting about preparing for Christmas and expecting the miraculous! What fitting words for a season where making a place is more important than ever. God never ceases to amaze me with the way He slips His messages to me in the unexpected and unlikely places. An email about supporting my hometown certainly wasn't the place I expected to hear His voice. Yet here I am with these words singing over and over through the inner chamber of my thoughts. 

Almost immediately I recognized these two sentences weren't pertaining only to strengthening small, local communities. Not for me they weren't anyway. Thoughts of Christmas making, home educating, and a safe shelter for family, friends, and dear strangers immediately sat down and made themselves at home. Close on the heels of the words are questions begging to be answered. Placemaking. What kind of place am I currently making? What kind of place do I want to make? What does placemaking look like for me in this season called now? 

These are not questions to be answered flippantly. I need to sit and ponder; I need to listen with my spirit's ear instead of my mind. In the inner stillness more questions come. What kind of place am I making for Jesus? Is there any area He has been relegated to a corner or completely unwelcome? Have I made a place for Jesus? Have I made a place for God the Father? Have I made a place for God Holy Spirit? I am a placemaker. Am I making a place for God? I am a placemaker. Have I made a place for my marriage, my children, my family, my friends, my neighbors, myself? I am a placemaker. Am I making a place anywhere at all?

I am a placemaker; so are you. We are placemakers, and we are making a place. What kind of place will we make? The decision is ours to make. May we sit quiet and close with the One who created us and knows us better than any other and listen with our innermost ear. May we receive His answers and follow His leading. May we rise up and make place for Him and those He loves everywhere we are to the glory of God the Father,  the Son, and the Holy Spirit.