Beauty in Belonging: Anchoring in Christ in Every Season by Jenny Erlingssonಮಾದರಿ

Day 1: The Beauty of Belonging

I never felt my need for belonging more acutely than when my family made an international move to the country of my husband’s birth. When I married my Icelandic husband, I never actually considered that we would one day live in the land of fire and ice because he was heavily involved in local ministries based in our North Alabama community.

Most of us long to be rooted in places where we feel safe, connected, and free to be fully us, with all our quirks and complexities. When God called my husband to Iceland—with echoes of God’s call to Moses—belonging became one of my core concerns for myself and our children. Times of transition and steps into new seasons come with various needs, and one of the greatest is belonging. But you don’t have to cross international borders to experience your own need for community and connection. Sometimes a new age, circumstantial change, the addition of a new child, or the loss of a loved one can set your world off kilter, causing you to grasp for something solid. In Her Part to Play, readers are introduced to main characters from two different worlds who are each dealing with various issues, but chief among them is their longing to belong. John’s craving for a place to call home goes deeper than the often shallow and shifting film industry he works in. Adanne grapples for a sense of identity and worth in the hometown she grew up in. While grieving for her parents, she struggles with who she is amid all she is trying to do. But as the story unfolds, they both encounter moments that show them what belonging could look like for them.

“I don’t know what a new season looks like for you, son. But remember to anchor. If you know who you are in Christ, you won’t have to worry about the in-between. Do what you know. Remember your first love. Engage in what makes your heart sing. You’ll see God unfold everything else from there.”

No matter what age, stage, or season we find ourselves in, belonging is available to us too. I pray that throughout this plan, you are reminded of who you are, whom you have access to, and how you can cultivate belonging for others out of the overflow of your relationship with Christ. Just as John and Adanne discover that they do throughout their journey, you also have a part to play in beautiful belongings.