No matter where we live, we desire to have a sense of belonging. We want to feel like we are a part of something. We want to know that we are where we are supposed to be. It is ok if we go through moments or seasons when we don’t feel like we belong in our field of service. I remember during my teen years, growing up in the United States, I longed to travel. I would see airplanes passing in the sky above me and wish I was on those planes. I would wonder where their destination was and what it would be like to live there. Then I moved overseas in my early twenties, and I stopped wishing I was on the planes that passed. I was in the right place for that time, but I still didn’t always feel like I belonged. My accent reminded me that I was a transplant every day.  

Now I am in the States again for a furlough and to raise support to go back to the field. I don’t always feel like I belong even though my accent blends in perfectly. So much has changed since I lived here. I was in a store the other day, and I saw a framed print that said, “You are exactly where you need to be.” I knew the message was true, and I needed to be reminded of that. The frame now hangs in the living room of our temporary U.S. apartment.  

I think wherever I live, I will have this longing to belong, and I won’t always feel like I do belong. I think that’s o.k., because our true home is with our Creator in heaven. We are passing through, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 when he compares our bodies to tents. Our home here, whichever country it is in, is temporary. Maybe our desire to belong is meant to make us long for our Savior and our forever home with Him. Let us use this longing as a reminder to be excited for eternal life with Him. And let’s continue to know Him, love Him, and serve with Him here until He calls us home.