B is for Belonging




B is for Belonging

Belonging isn’t about being noticed, it is not earned by performance or perfection. It’s about feeling like you are a part of something. It feels like letting your hair down or exhaling.

For much of my life, I thought belonging meant fitting in. Knowing the right words, doing the right things, not being too much or not enough. I thought it meant being needed, useful and strong. While there is goodness in being needed, belonging runs deeper than usefulness. It says you are wanted even when you don’t bring anything to the table but yourself.

 Illness has a way of stripping things down to the essentials. Chronic seasons, long hospital stays, dialysis schedules, exhaustion that doesn’t sleep off. These things have taught me that belonging isn’t found in how much I can give, it’s about who stays when I can’t give much at all.

Belonging looks like friends who don’t rush the conversation. Like people who sit in the discomfort instead of offering quick fixes. Like laughter that finds its way back in after tears have had their say.

God understands belonging in a way we often forget. From the beginning he didn’t say “be impressive” He said “It is not good for man to be alone.” We were created for connection, for community, for family and for people who know our story but love us anyway.

Belonging doesn’t mean everything is easy. It doesn’t mean everything is healthy. It means you are not invisible and that you matter. Sometimes the most sacred belonging of all is remembering that we belong to God, fully, completely and without condition. Even on the days we feel forgotten. Especially on those days.

“The lord will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your life.” Psalm 121:7


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