Recently I have thought a lot about the importance of places and people in your life. What truly makes or breaks a person – the psychological debate of nature versus nurture. How both nature and nurture play such a significant role in our psychological development and interaction with each other and the world we choose to live in. It’s so true – the environment you plant yourself in really does matter.

I know none of us can change the facts of where we are born or who we are born to. We all are a product of that exposure and those life experiences that we have learned as an individual. Our early childhood experiences directly affected our personalities, our moral development and our general relationships that we have had over time. Our personalities are directly caused by the cultural development and the interactions we have had within our own environment and with others when we are young.

So this shows the importance of places and people in our lives.

I recently listened to a minister who told about the California Redwood trees that are some of the tallest and fastest growing trees in the United States. They literally tower over you and some are so big that you can drive a car through them. But what’s even crazier is someone took some of their seedlings to New Zealand and placed them in the rich volcanic soil there and they grew even bigger – three times bigger in fact than here in the states. So where you are planted really does matter.

In my lifetime, I have rescued a lot of animals and I know the importance of raising these fur babies in positive environments and reinforcing rules with love.

I have raised many animals, including pit bulls that each has had a different personality just like children do. However, the environment of how they are raised and handled plays a huge role in how they react to the world they are placed in.

So places really matter to us and to God. In fact, the power of a place is so significant in our lives and even in these animals’ lives that it directly affects our growth and outcome.

I recently took care of an older dog in the pound and watched his demeanor change drastically in that environment. First, he was very scared and barked to warn you that he was not happy. I quickly recognized that his bark was not aggressive like some might have believed at first but instead it was unsure of what fate awaited him. As we learned more about his personality and got him to trust us, his demeanor quickly changed and you could see that he was not only a good boy but that he had definitely been somebody’s companion for a long time. He was potty-trained to go outside, though being locked up made him have to go inside his cage often which he did not like. He was used to being outside and running free, though now he was locked up and did not understand why he was being punished. He was used to going for rides and taking baths without any complaints. But now he was in a different place and as time kept ticking away, I watched sadness set into his poor old soul and it made me sad for him because I knew his potential. However, this made me more determined to find him another forever home, which thankfully we did and now he is thriving once again.

This showed me again how important a place was to not just a person but even an animal.

You can literally put a dog in a pound and limit his life just like you can put a fish in a small fish bowl and limit its growth. And you can put yourself in a small space too that will limit your growth in life.

I remember my dad taking goldfish out of their little fish bowls after they were left from a wedding reception at the children’s table. He took them home and placed them in a larger feed tub and I couldn’t believe that those little goldfish grew to look like Japanese Koi fish. Later he tossed them in our little pond and I often wondered just how big they got in their new environment.

Sometimes we are placed in a certain place that we don’t understand and it hurts to wait and see why we are in that place but maybe God is preparing us for something even bigger. I truly believe if we can just stay in that place a little longer we will understand His provision that’s waiting for us.

Ironically, God often moves people before He uses them. So, our purpose is often connected to a place. Just like the older working cattle dog, his purpose was connected to a new place where once he arrived there, he thrived.

There are a lot of doors that people open in their lives that cause environmental stress – wrong places and wrong acquaintances. But there can be the right doors and the right people too that we say yes to. This is the importance of the places and the people who influence our lives. This is power and significance in certain places.

I’m also reminded that sometimes we get so used to being full that we forget what it is like to be hungry and we lose our compassion. Just like those poor animals tossed out to fend for themselves in a cruel world, we need to remember to show kindness. That’s why having the right people come along helps you find provision and shelter.

However this should be a transformation time only to get you to where you belong. I am reminded that when I needed shelter and His provision I could always run to God and then I understood the importance of the places I’ve been and the people that have been there for me.

In a time when the world would rather have you dim your light than to keep shining it, remember kindness goes a long way. So it’s time to remember your birthright of who you are and why you are here. You are here by God’s design and to have dominion in the right place with the right provisions.. Though the world may try to distract you from becoming who you really are, you will find your place and your people and you will thrive in the right environment. This is the importance of the right place and the right people in our lives. It really does make all the difference between thriving or just barely surviving.