Will Parker Anderson, senior editor with Penguin Publishing Group, pens a Substack blog with content that is meant to be encouraging and informational for those of us who clack away on our keyboards in hopes of telling a good story. Occasionally, though, he shares words of wisdom to writers and non-writers alike.

Photo by Nate Banks on Unsplash

In a recent piece, Anderson ruminated on being content and purposeful where we find ourselves:

Right now, where do you call home? God in his wisdom plunked you right here—in this place, at this time, so your address is no accident.

It caused me to think back to what brought me to Sunny Breeze Lane. I’ve told this story before, but after my first husband passed away, I left my hometown—not because I wanted to, but because I couldn’t afford to stay.

My son and DIL traveled with their business, so I found myself in their Marina del Rey apartment in southern California. In time, I developed some head/neck/shoulder pain. Signs of aging, I thought. But when the pain shot down my arm, numbed the pads of my fingers, and I couldn’t open a Ziploc baggie, I drove north—back to the place I didn’t want to leave—to see my in-network physician.

I stayed in a lovely hillside guesthouse through six weeks of physical therapy after an image-guided cortisone shot. And then the door opened for me to move to that beautiful little place. If I hadn’t had that head/neck/shoulder pain, I wouldn’t have met Dan.

The story of how God directed Dan’s and my paths toward each other is my favorite story. I love the address where we live. But more than that, I love the man who invited me to be his bride and share his address.

 Nothing coincidental about any of that.

So, if we’re here, right now, in this place, at this address, then how can we make the most of it?

Will Parker Anderson offers some great input to that question:

Who around you needs someone to listen, or a warm meal dropped off? Which little league team needs a coach? What coworker needs a free oil change? What cluttered space in your garage can be converted into an art or podcast studio? What dusty, forgotten ping-pong table can be set up in the driveway for a neighborhood tournament? Where in your front yard can you put a picnic table to spark conversations with passersby while you eat? Whose dog can you compliment? (Oh, how people love this!) What curmudgeonly neighbor needs an anonymous plate of freshly baked cookies left on their porch with a kind note?

I’m pretty sure there are some of you who don’t want to be where you are. You’ve lost your purpose and now it feels as if you’re in limbo, waiting for something more meaningful to come along. You want to be married, have children, start your own business, or buy a home of your own … but it doesn’t look as if that will happen anytime soon.

And meanwhile, you’re here.

And if here and now is what God has provided, then consider the closing words from Will Parker Anderson:

What simple next step will sink your roots just a bit deeper into the soil of here and now? Take that step, then utter the words: ‘Let [your] Kingdom come, [your] will be done, in this place as it is in heaven.’