The Lines Are Fallen in Pleasant Places: Finding Joy This Season

Finding joy this season can feel like one more thing on the list. I know. Most of us walk into November already tired.

Here's what the research shows first. In Bonafide's 2026 State of Menopause survey of over 2,000 U.S. women ages 40 to 64 (published August 2026), 65% said they feel overwhelmed by everyday life. Among women 40 to 49, it was 70%. And 69% said they want to be alone more often.

That's a lot of us standing in the kitchen at the start of the holidays, wishing for a quiet minute.

So this morning, the morning of our evening together, I want to hand you a verse that has been sitting with me.

What Psalm 16:6 says

"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Psalm 16:6

When David wrote about lines, he meant boundary lines. In Israel, land was measured out with a cord, and the lines marked the portion that belonged to you. David looks at what God has measured out for him, and he doesn't say "it's not enough" or "it's too much." He says it's pleasant. It's good. It's mine.

A few verses later he says his heart is glad. That gladness doesn't drop on him out of nowhere. It comes from looking at what the Lord has given him and calling it good, right where he stands.

Here in Kentucky we understand fence lines. We know what it means to look across a field at first light and think, "The Lord gave us this."

Finding joy this season inside your lines

Your lines this season might feel crowded. A full calendar. A long grocery list. A table to set and people to feed.

But look a little closer, inside those lines. There's a porch where the morning light comes in sideways. There's a kitchen where somebody always ends up laughing. There's a friend who texts you at just the right time.

Finding joy this season doesn't mean finding a bigger field. It means looking at the one God measured out for you and seeing the pleasant places already there.

What the research says about singing together

Here's a study that made me grin. In 2015, researchers at the University of Oxford, led by Eiluned Pearce, followed adult-education classes that met weekly for seven months. Some were singing classes. Others were crafts and creative writing. The singing classes felt close to each other faster, right at the start, in the very first month. In Pearce's words, singing "broke the ice."

In kitchen-table words: when women sing together, they warm up to each other fast. Strangers start to feel like friends sooner.

That's good news if you've been feeling overwhelmed and a little alone. Joy grows faster when it's shared, and a song is one of the quickest ways to share it.

One thing to try today

Sing one song out loud today. In the car, at the sink, or on the porch with your coffee. Better yet, sing it with somebody.

If you're coming tonight, you'll get to do exactly that. Pick a worship song you love and turn it up on the drive over. Arrive already humming.

Picture tonight

Now picture this with me. You walk in out of the cold and the room smells like coffee. Somebody you haven't seen in months waves you over. You browse a table of things local women made with their own hands. At 7:00 the lights soften and we sing, and you can hear the woman behind you singing a little too loud, and it makes you smile.

You'll sit still with God for a few minutes. You'll write down one thing you're carrying and leave it in the Lay It Down basket. We'll move a little to an upbeat worship song, some of us standing and some in our chairs, and somebody will start laughing, and then everybody will. You'll go home with three cards for the season and a door prize ticket in your pocket.

And somewhere in there, you'll look around that room and think, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places."

Come find joy with us tonight

Make Room for You: An Evening Before the Season Begins is tonight, Thursday, November 12. The doors open at 6:30 with a coffee bar and a Self-Care Marketplace with local self-care makers. We begin at 7:00 and you'll be headed home by 8:30. There's the Joy Jar, door prizes, a photo booth, and a room full of women who'll laugh with you.

It's free, in the Youth Center at Meades Branch Freewill Baptist Church, 9 Vanhoose Hollow, Louisa. Walk-ins are welcome. If you'd like, save your seat at aligned-purpose-co.com/make-room-for-you or text (606) 483-1001 so we have enough cups and chairs.

Come as you are. There's a pleasant place waiting for you.

What the research says

Bonafide, "Key Findings from Bonafide's 2026 State of Menopause Survey" (Aug 7, 2026; women 40-64 across the U.S.; run by a menopause product company): hellobonafide.com

Pearce, E., Launay, J., and Dunbar, R. I. M., "The ice-breaker effect: singing mediates fast social bonding," Royal Society Open Science (2015), as reported by ScienceDaily, Oct 28, 2015: ScienceDaily