Live Event Management - You Belong: 52 Stories to Strengthen Your Purpose, Faith & Relationships

A few months after my mothers death I had the opportunity to go on my first-ever cruise. The previous couple of years had been hard; her slow decline and eventual release had been both heartbreaking and exhausting. But now I was coming out of the fog, and a week of someone else cleaning and cooking gourmet meals for me while I sat watching the world go by seemed like the very thing to ease my aching heart.

As a cruise newbie, I was surprised by the amount of paperwork the company felt it needed before they let me embark on the ship. But Im a rule follower by nature, so I sat down at my desk one evening to dutifully fill in all the blanks. It was the usual sort of thing: name, address, phone, etc. No big deal, right? Until I got to the question that stopped me cold: Who should we contact in case of emergency?

I... I dont know, I thought, staring at the page. I dont belong to anybody.

While I could make the case that I belong to God, I couldnt exactly list him as my emergency contact. I didnt have his phone number. Besides, if anything was to happen to me, he would already know, so there would be no need to fill him in. I briefly thought about enlisting my cat considering that the odds of my experiencing an actual emergency were slim and it would, at least, give me a name for the form but if something did happen Id feel pretty stupid when a medical team tried to gather vital intel only to have all their questions answered with meow. When I narrowed my choices to living humans, my options were limited: My mother was the last living member of my immediate family. Im not married and dont have a roommate. I did have friends and extended family members who would no doubt be willing to lend their name to my form, but they didnt have to. They werent ordinarily responsible for me. I didnt really belong to them.

Belonging is one of those things we often take for granted. Sometimes its even annoying to be stuck with people you dont want to deal with at that moment. And sometimes (junior high springs to mind) its the most vitally important thing ever in the history of the universe to belong to the right crowd (whoever they may be). But most of the time it just is. We belong... or we dont.

The following pages contain fifty-two stories about belonging, one for each week of the year. They address purpose, identity, and relationships (with others, yourself, and God), because all those things are seen from the perspective of where, when, and to whom you belong. Each story ends with a prayer, a thought to consider, or an idea to put into practice that week. Try not to rush from one page to the next; let the content settle into your heart and mind as you grow in your understanding of what it means to belong.

For two weeks that form sat on my desk while I tried to come to terms with my new reality. I eventually landed on a name to fill in that blank, but I havent looked at belonging the same way since. As you make your way through the stories in this book, I hope you also will gain a new perspective on what it means to belong. Because you do. You belong with family, friends, and groups. You belong to yourself. You belong in a specific place and time, for a reason. You belong to your Creator.

You belong.

Susan Ellingburg, Editor

A TIME TO TEAR ; A TIME TO MEND

Nichole Nordeman

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

ECCLESIASTES 3:1

As a newly single mom, overwhelmed by basic banking, I have been a very happy renter. Home ownership feels scary on my own, and one of my favorite people in the galaxy is my landlord, Sam, who is essentially what would happen if Santa and Pope Francis had a younger brother. I know its time to be a big girl home owner, but Im probably going to ask Sam and his wife to live with me and my kids.

Recently, I decided to attend the open house of a listing Id been obsessing about. The real estate agent explained that the home was owned by an older gentleman whod raised his family there since 1969. Hed recently lost his wife and would be moving out west to be closer to his adult children, who could help him navigate around his grief and a few less stairs.