It’s normal during a holiday break to spend some time reflecting about your life, the previous year and the year to come. This year, one of the things that really struck me and Sally, was what a truly special place Pawleys Island is both to us and the movement we are a part of.

In truth, it’s always been special to us. Some of our fondest memories in the life of our family were the 10 years we came here each summer. I’d preach on Sundays and the family got the rest of the week to play on the beach. My middle child, Libby, began dreaming of living here one day. So when we realized a few years ago that we could go anywhere in the United States to serve 3DM…we chose this place!

So it’s been special to us for some time, but what was interesting was seeing how it’s turned into something else for people who are constantly visiting our team here in Pawleys. And you know me. I’m always filtering it through the lens of church history and it’s interesting that in many ways, people coming to visit are treating it as a type of pilgrimage.

Now I don’t mean that in a weird, medieval kind of way.

I mean that Biblically, there seem to be actual places and spaces that are significant. As if heaven and earth have collided and something has stuck. Now, this can go to all sorts of unhelpful places (we see this in the Bible, and we see this in church history as well). But it can also be helpful as people look to places for retreat, looking to get a fresh revelation from the Lord.

The Celts called them “the thin places.”

And in many ways, that’s what we are increasingly seeing here in Pawleys.

• People are taking their sabbaticals here.
• People are looking to do their workshops or Learning Communities here. Why? They get a level of accessibility to the life of the team that they may not other places. The kids of the team members are running around. There’s our dog Charlie. Finley, our grandson, is here. The infamous Joan’s lasagna!

I can’t get over how a seemingly small and insignificant place is continually drawing some of the best leaders for period of days, weeks, months or years. It’s amazing.

But it’s also occurring to me that in many ways, this is a present day parable. What we are constantly looking for is the ways in which God is ALREADY working in our life…the places where GRACE is already present…where there are thin places in our hearts. Why?

So that we may join in there!