Some time ago, my middle daughter, Laura, called to ask my advice. She is at an "in- between" place right now. She's been working in the city but feeling restless, feeling that God has something more for her. So she has begun the process to join a mission group for the next year. Hence, her quandary. Should she stay in the city where rents are high and she has to drive some distance to work, or come home for the next few months so she can work here and save some money as the process unfolds?

As a mom I wanted to jump right in and tell her to come home. But I restrained myself. I advised her to keep praying and wait for God to give her peace about the decision. The next morning I read Psalm 84. I e-mailed Laura and typed out verses 3 and 4 because they had struck a cord.

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young ? a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you."

As I read those words I pictured those tiny birds flying high over the temple in Jerusalem. I thought about all that they would have seen and heard ? the priests and believers coming and going to offer sacrifices, the songs sung in praise and worship, and above all, the presence of God in that place. I thought how true it is, even today, that we must nest close to the Lord and his people.

So many times God has told us this ? stay close, let me gather you under my wing, hide yourself in me, abide in me. I think he said it so often because He knows how prone we are to not do it. We pull away so quickly; we find reasons to stay away, to our detriment.

It's interesting that the very next verse talks not about resting in one place, but about those "who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." The principle is clear: You don't have to stay in one place to stay close to the Lord. Whether my daughter stays in the city or comes home, whether she goes to Africa or Asia, as long as she stays close to the Lord, depending on Him for strength and guidance, praising and thanking Him, she will be in the right place. It was because those little birds were nesting in the courts of the Lord that they could bear their young in safety and fly high and far without fear.

"O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you" (Psalm 84:12).