Where is your happy place? Maybe it’s a favorite destination or a cozy spot where your heart feels full and at peace. Often, our happy places aren’t just locations— they’re people. There are those special individuals we can spend hours talking with, where conversations flow endlessly because there’s always something more to share. Those moments with the ones we love are precious, and we wish they would never end.

After God created a beautiful world, He turned His attention to human companionship. In Genesis 2:18 we read, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (NIV). God’s vision for humanity included family. He knew the joy and love family would bring.

Who is your family—your parents, spouse, children, or close friends who feel like family? Think about the joy they bring. Even now, just imagining their faces likely brings a smile to your face.

Not long ago, our generation experienced what it means to share space continuously—24 hours a day, seven days a week. We had to adapt and find new ways of living and connecting. It wasn’t always easy, but it brought unexpected blessings. We rediscovered routines we’d lost—like gathering for family worship, something often crowded out by busy schedules. Those shared moments of prayer and gratitude became sacred spaces where we could draw closer to God and to one another.

We also learned to talk more deeply with our children, to spend meaningful time with our parents, and to work side by side with our spouses. In many ways, that experience mirrors the story of Noah—a family confined together, learning to trust God and each other in a world of uncertainty.

Noah and his family remained inside the ark for approximately 370 days—more than a full year! In this story, we see a family that believed in a promise given to one man. Imagine sitting at dinner one evening when your father announces, “God has instructed me to build an ark.” As Noah shared the details, his family believed and followed. Their faith wasn’t in the plan itself but in the God who made the promise.

Inside the family is one of God’s greatest gifts to humankind. In times of pain, joy, or trial, family surrounds us with love. When God is at the center of our homes, His love becomes visible through our relationships. We will still face struggles and disagreements, but our home becomes a place where grace grows. As T. Cecil Myers wrote, “Imagine if we had a home where Christ is known and loved and served, where children come to know Him through their parents.”* 

Noah didn’t just walk with God—he led his family to walk with Him. In the midst of chaos, they stayed together, prayed together, and trusted together. Picture them in the ark: listening to the endless rain, hearing the winds howl, and waiting for God’s timing. The ark may have felt small, but God’s presence made it a sanctuary. In a world falling apart, it became the center of faith, family, and obedience.

When the flood finally ended, Noah gathered his family once more. The first thing he did was build an altar and worship God. Genesis 8:20 (NKJV) says, “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord…and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” Worship was both his response and his family’s renewal.

Today, I invite you to do the same—build a daily “altar” in your home. Set aside time each day for family worship, to give thanks for one another and to praise the God who keeps your family safe. Hold your loved ones dearly. God has given us many families—our birth family, our church family, and our spiritual family. Like Noah, let’s invite them all into the ark of God’s grace.

One day, when Christ returns, may we joyfully say, “Here am I, and the children [family] the Lord has given me” Isaiah 8:18 (NIV).

*T. Cecil Myers, Happiness Is Still Home Made (Waco, TX: Word Book, 1969).