Daddy had been raised in an orphanage and was separated from his older sister and brother when he was about 14 or 15. Life got in the way of his searching for them, but the summer I was 12 he found them both living within 100 miles of each other between Tampa and Orlando, FL. He could hardly wait to get us packed up and hit the road! I figured this would just mean more people I didn't fit it in with.
Imagine my surprise when this lovely lady opened the front door, hugged my daddy, and turned to me and said, "I'm your Aunt Lucy. I'm so glad to meet you." There I stood, years older of course, but I looked like Aunt Lucy! Then she introduced me to her daughter and the likeness was uncanny. Suddenly, I fit in -- I belonged.
But even without that sense of belonging, as I grew in my Christian faith I learned that I had no cause to worry about fitting in or belonging.
I Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people ... belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (NIV)
God had claimed me as His own from the moment I was conceived in my mother's womb. Even though I might have strayed from time to time, I always belonged to Him. I am His.
Linking up with Beck Gambill on Sister to Sister. Today's word is belonging. Have any thoughts to share? Visit Beck's site to read the guidelines for writing your feelings about belonging.
What a wonderful story for belonging! I think our earthly longing to belong echoes and exaggerates our need for eternal belonging. God is so gracious to give us a spiritual family to belong to.
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