Hey friends, welcome to the Graceology with Gwen Smith podcast.

I'm Gwen Smith and I'm really glad you're here.

Each week I host two different shows, one with incredible guests and meaningful conversations,

and one called A Moment of Grace, where

it's just me, talking to just you, in a reflective, devotional style to help connect those

busy, bruised, and broken places to the beautiful hope of Jesus. So now I invite you to sit

back and take a deep breath as I share with you a moment of grace.

There's a scene in the whimsical and quirky film The Princess Bride, where the bad guys were chasing the movie's two main characters, Buttercup and Wesley.

In order to escape, Buttercup and Wesley ran into the treacherous fire swamps. The fire swamps have three challenges,

fire spurs, quicksand, and the R-O-U-S, which stands for rodents of unusual size. At one point in the

fire swamp adventure, Princess Buttercup fell into a

pit of dry quicksand and she vanished instantly. Her brave hero Wesley acted quickly. He grabbed a

sturdy vine and plunged into save his true love. Moments later, both characters emerged from the

quicksand gasping for breath, stunned by what had just happened.

Life clutter can sometimes consume me just as fast and leave me gasping for breath, at times even stunned.

When I find myself in the fire swamps, I ask myself question after question.

How did this happen? How did I get here?

How do I get out of this scary place? Does anyone even know I'm in this pit? Who's going to be my hero?

One thing I've learned for sure is this. I'm at a great risk of falling into the quicksand of situational

fire swamps when I run on empty. Without a doubt, I'm at a great risk of falling into the quicksand of situational fire swamps when I run on empty.

Without a doubt, I'm more vulnerable on the days when my schedule is so full that my god time is

minimized. You probably know what it's like to have a day filled with activity but a heart

...