Day 17 of 31 Days of Hope: Holy Spaces

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This December, OMF Literature would like to share with you 31 excerpts from 31 devotionals. In an age where people are desperate to cling to something or someone, we offer a message of encouragement, inspiration, and love from the One who is the eternal source of Hope.

I once visited The Farm, a wellness center in Laguna. It’s beautiful, with a vast canopy of trees and plants that stretched into the horizon, beyond my line of sight. In one nook stands a gigantic mango tree, capiz lanterns dangling from its branches. A carpet of moss lines the ground. That quiet corner reminded me of Moses and the burning bush and holy ground. That is exactly what it felt like. Holy ground.

I recalled one Bible study where the pastor repeated that the church is Gomer. I thought, I am the church. I am Gomer. I am a woman who has carelessly thrown her heart around and wondered why it’s just so broken.

I’ve been frustrated with the church for so long but I see it better now, with a clarity that only comes from a God whose judgment is never cloudy: I am the church. I am so many of the things I hate. I am a hypocrite.

There is something strangely liberating about knowing this.

Because, despite all these things, I am loved anyway.

It must be true that love is the only thing that genuinely frees us. God sees the road ahead, sees how far we have to go, and is not fazed. Perhaps He designed the church not as an institution but as a living, breathing organism that journeys, invites others to walk on holy ground no matter how dirty their soles are, stops for the wounded, and loves. The knees-in-thedirt-heart-on-your-sleeve kind of love.

It’s not about me or you. One look at our lives reveals our ugly state. Let’s take up God’s invitation to walk into something sacred, learn His dreams, and then, perhaps, be the kind of church He designed — the kind that Heaven hopes for here on earth.

As I walked into that mango tree nook, I felt God say: “Come in anyway. Kick your sandals off. This is still holy ground.”

Do you have any holy spaces? Where do you feel God’s presence the most?

This is an entry written by Isa Garcia from Dawns: A Weekly Devotional for Self-Care & Spiritual Growth. This book is now available at OMF Lit and Passages Bookshops and our online store, shop.omflit.com for P350.

Many times a woman’s path is dimmed by heartbreak, loneliness, pain, self-doubt, and suffering. Where could she turn to find light?

This weekly devotional for women offers words of friendship, grace, joy, peace, and love. Written by three authors — Isa Garcia, Janina Rivera, and Ida Torres — these pages tackle women’s journey of faith, self-care, and spiritual growth.

Read the entry for the week...
Set aside time to meditate on the anchor verse...
Respond to the journaling prompt in whatever way you wish...
And remember, just when everything looks at its darkest,
soon will break a new dawn.