Michelle Van Loon - Born to Wander: Recovering the Value of Our Pilgrim Identity

We are all wanderers, whether literal, figurativeor both. With wisdom as deep as the waters of the sea and prose as sharp as the needle of a compass, Michelle Van Loon guides her readers out of exile and back into the arms of Godour only true home.

KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR

Author of On Reading Well and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah MorePoet, Reformer, Abolitionist

Theres nothing quite like knowing where you belong in the world, but in an age of constant change, sudden shifts, and unexpected transitions, this is an increasingly elusive experience. In Born to Wander, Michelle Van Loon writes to all those who cant quite seem to find their place, offering hope that our restlessness echoes a more significant journey. Drawing on Scripture and her own history, Van Loon reminds us that as much as were making our way through this life, were also making our way to Himand in finding Him, well finally find our way home.

HANNAH ANDERSON

Author of Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul

Born to Wander is a book about pilgrimage, and a pilgrimage itself. A readable, engaging journey through the Old Testament, interwoven with truths about Jesus and insights about pilgrimage, Born to Wander took me on new paths, provided new insights, and engaged my heart, mind, and soul. Readers will learn more about the Bible, and what it means to follow Jesusthat is, to pilgrimage. Themes of remembering, exile, worship, lament, repentance, and obedience are interwoven with candid self-revelations and unexpected connections. Readers will see their own story in this pilgrimage through Gods story. Michelle Van Loons unique perspective as a Jewish follower of Jesus makes her the perfect guide for this journey, and shes obviously intimately familiar with these paths through the Scriptures. Study questions for each chapter make this a great resource for groups or individual deeper study.

KERI WYATT KENT

Author of GodSpace: Embracing the Inconvenient Adventure of Intimacy with God

Born to Wander is a beautiful book. In its pages, Michelle Van Loon connects the universal instinct to wander to the Bibles theme of pilgrimage. Van Loon understands that wandering is a double-edged sword, prompted both by a thirst for adventure and an unfulfilled longing for home, the ache of the uprooted plant. Her lyrical, wide-ranging exploration of the topic will help you find meaning in your own journey, no matter how halting and haphazard it has seemed to be. As she observes, You were bornand born againto wander.

DREW DYCK

Contributing editor at CTPastors.com, and author of Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science

Michelles poignant storytelling draws in readers with insight for the unrest and discontent we often feel in our lives. She reminds us of the pilgrim nature of the lives of every generation of believers and leaves those who have experienced the kinds of struggles that uproot and displace us with a practical theology for understanding it. We may be wanderers, but we are wandering toward home, drawn by our good Father who hasnt left us as orphans to wander alone.

WENDY ALSUP

Author of Is the Bible Good for Women?: Seeking Clarity and Confidence Through a Jesus-centered Understanding of Scripture

Born to Wander is a rich and generous call to the ancient but increasingly resonant pilgrim way. Threading together Israels exile and sojourn in the wilderness with Jesus troubling call to walk in the way of the cross, Michelle Van Loon beautifully illumines the wandering character of the Christian life. In a time when many Christians hope and expect that Jesus lived, died, and rose again to make them immediately and temporally happy, Van Loons experience as a Jewish Christian, and her own wayfaring in the sometime spiritual desert of evangelicalism, provides a warm and gracious invitation to follow Jesus on His own terms, to a better country.

ANNE CARLSON KENNEDY

Author of Nailed It: 365 Sarcastic Devotions for Angry or Worn-Out People

As a retail gypsy, I moved roughly every two years as my father climbed the management ladder of a major retail company. So its fair to say Im well acquainted with rootlessness. Even now, I feel the urge to move, to see what God has in store down the road. That, according to Michelle Van Loon, is a holy urge, a God-inspired impulse to transform from mere wanderer to true pilgrim and to find the place where traveling will cease. That message is the beating heart of Born to Wander, and in its pages, readers will find a map for the journey. She has created a Scripture-rich guidebook to help us all as we go.

JAMIE A. HUGHES

Writer and editor

A friend of mine recently encouraged me with these words: Its easy to follow Gods will if were willing to go anywhere. Thats the pilgrim concept found throughout the Bible and its an essential requirement for serving our King-Messiah. Michelle Van Loon, with biblical insight, encouraging stories, and an engaging style, leads us into grappling with what it means to follow the King wherever He leads. Born to Wander will encourage our hearts while drawing us closer to Messiah Jesus. Dont miss it.

MICHAEL RYDELNIK

Professor of Jewish Studies and Bible, Moody Bible Institute

Host and Teacher, Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik, Moody Radio

The rootlessness and restlessness that accompany so many of us through life can feel, at best, like a burden. Michelle Van Loon begs to differ. Her beautiful new book reorients us toward finding our pilgrim status not a burden, but a blessing from God.

GINA DALFONZO

Author of One by One: Welcoming the Singles in Your Church

The world is made up of pioneers and settlers. God never called us to settle. In the words of Michelle Van Loon, we were born to wander. This book will show you how to wander well.

DAN STANFORD

Pastor and author of Losing the Cape: The Power of Ordinary in a World of Superheroes

Ive moved eighteen times in eighteen years and never have I ever felt so understood as I have reading Born to Wander. For the wanderer by chance or choice, circumstances beyond your control or thought to be within your control, this book is for you. Taking her readers on a journey through Scripture, Michelle Van Loon topples the Western idol of home and points instead to the home written on the hearts of all: eternity with God. If you have felt prone to wander or simply born to wander, I hope this book will encourage you as it has me.

LORE FERGUSON WILBERT

Writer at Sayable.net and assorted other publications

We are all exiles trying to find our way back to Eden. Van Loon sagely teaches us that the remedy for our longing will not come by pursuing security or comfort, but rather by living as pilgrims, who faithfully follow the Fathers call.

DOROTHY LITTELL GRECO

Photographer, writer, and author of Making Marriage Beautiful

2018 by MICHELLE VAN LOON

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.