Where God Teaches My Soul to Breathe poem

Where does my soul breathe
when the world feels loud,
When people feel heavy,
And even familiar spaces seem strange?

Where does my heart rest
When the room looks holy
But the atmosphere does not?
When smiles are practiced
And conversations feel rehearsed?

Where does my spirit go
when discernment whispers,
"Something here is not safe"…
But love still tells me to be kind?

I breathe
where God's peace settles
like quiet morning light
slipping through my window.

I breathe
where my heart isn't questioned
for being tender,
And my voice isn't softened
to make someone else comfortable.

I breathe
in the presence of people
who hold my vulnerability gently,
who speak truth without poison,
who love without performance.

I breathe
where grace is real,
and intentions are pure,
and I am allowed to simply be—
not impressed,
not shrink,
not pretend.

My soul breathes
where God is welcomed,
not quoted.
Where His love is lived,
not performed.
Where His peace is felt,
not forced.

So if you ever find me stepping back,
pulling away,
or choosing stillness over crowds,
it's not bitterness—
It's discernment.

I am just learning
to stay where my spirit exhales…
and to walk away
from every place
that asks my soul
to hold its breath.

And when I cannot find the safe place,
I run to the One who is safety Himself—
the God who shelters,
the Father who sees,
The Shepherd who leads me beside still waters
When the world refuses to be still.

For my soul breathes best
in the shadow of His wings—
where no mask is needed,
No proving is required,
and His presence becomes
the very air my spirit was created to inhale.