Belonging

It’s the end of week 2 for the fall HelloMornings Challenge!

I’ve participated in these challenges in one form or another for a couple of years now and it has revolutionized my days–from beginning to end. But along with the radical change in my daily schedule has come some amazing studies. As you can see from the graphic up there, this challenge’s study is through the book of Ephesians.

Our week’s passage was Ephesians 1:1-14. So much good stuff in those verses! But the overwhelming sense that kept running through me as I read and studied was that of belonging.

It came from phrases such as:

• “God loved us and chose us in Christ…”
• “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family…”
• “…he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son…”
• “God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan…”
• “…we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance…”
• “And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own…”
• “…he has purchased us to be his own people…”

Incredible!

One of the biggest struggles my oldest had when leaving our home state to move to an Army post was losing her sense of belonging in the theater group of which she was an active member. She was known, loved…people looked forward to seeing her at rehearsals and events. It was rough to have to leave that! And she had a difficult time those first couple of months.

Enter Bob’s Diner at Chapel Next, Fort Hood, Texas. Similar in nature to a church youth group, this gathering is made up of military kids who totally “get” how it feels to leave and start over. In fact, most of them do it every couple of years. So when someone new joins them, they waste absolutely no time drawing the person in. “Love ’em fast and love ’em well!” is what one of the leaders told me is their motto. And the leaders and kids are very good at it.

My daughter now has a new sense of belonging, and it’s made a world of difference in her outlook and demeanor.

Our heavenly father knows we all need that belonging and this passage in Ephesians speaks directly into the heart of that need. Let this verse sink into your soul:

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Eph. 1:5 (NLT, emphasis mine)

We are wanted. We belong.