Linked Together
My Story with family & friends
Scripture Connection
1 Chronicles 1:1-4; 2 Chronicles 1:1
The Bible makes a big deal of ancestry. Many books in the Bible, like 1 and 2 Chronicles, start with genealogies. As we read, sometimes we stumble through a long list of “who begat who,” but all are given precious space in Scripture. Why? Because they are more than lists of ancient people’s names. They have a message for us today that speaks to a deep longing in us: “Here is your family. These are your people. This is where you belong!”
Belonging speaks to more than our inherited DNA. It is knowing you and I have a place in the world and among the people who love and care for us. Looking at the children in our families, we can see signs of belonging.
One child has his uncle’s eye color, another one her grandmother’s curly hair. Perhaps there is a child in the family who loves to write or cook or sing—just like you or your parents or a cousin. We are all somebody’s descendant, linked together through many generations.
In my family, we try very hard to clearly communicate belonging to our descendants.
Belonging speaks to more than our inherited DNA. It is knowing you and I have a place in the world and among the people who love and care for us.
My husband, Steve, and I often practice a belonging bedtime routine with our grandchildren when they come over for sleepovers. Little hands are massaged. We talk. We laugh. Our attention is fully focused on that one child. We ask, “How can we pray tonight? Are you worried about anything? Is there something we can thank God for in our lives?”
We tell stories about God’s work from their parent’s childhoods, the family lore, and then we ask this: “To whom do you belong?”
They respond with a long list of family names: “I belong to Grandma and Grandpa. I belong to Uncle Justin and my cousins. Don’t forget Aunt Karen.” We try to include every family member in this bedtime recital. Dozens of names, recalling loved ones near and far, are remembered.
It is a kind of game, a challenge, to see how many we can remember. Then we remind these beloved grandchildren that they will never be alone, never orphaned, never without people who love and care for them. When life presents problems, they won’t face them on their own. No matter what happens to them, they are cared for. They have people. They are part of a family. They belong!
Belonging is such a powerful gift we can give to others in a world that can be cold and brutally heartless. Belonging strengthens us and makes us resilient. But we must realize this: Belonging is more than genetic makeup. By reaching out and sharing our lives with others through simple, caring gestures belonging is extended both to and beyond family.
Gestures like a phone call just checking up on someone, an invitation to share a meal in our homes, a simple card remembering someone’s birthday or anniversary, a cup of coffee and warm conversation, or well wishes and a reminder that we’re praying for someone’s restored health. All these gestures say, “We are your family. We are your people. You belong!”
May we be healed and become agents of healing through this beautiful and profoundly spiritual gift of belonging.
But as beautiful and healing as belonging can be, it is more profound than birthday cards, phone calls, and bedtime rituals. Belonging is deeply spiritual. Belonging is the language that is used throughout Scripture to describe how God loves us:
- “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12, NLT)
- “You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba Father.’ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:15-16, NLT)
- “I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18, NLT)
- “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26, NLT)
- “Dear friends, we are already God’s children.” (1 John 3:2, NLT)
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26, NLT
We are loved. We are his children. We are family! We belong!
May that truth be as sweet to us as it was to my six-year-old grandson. Recently, we were walking down the sidewalk, holding hands, and I told him, “You belong to our family. You belong to Uncle Brendan and Aunt Kailey. . . .” I continued with our list of family, when suddenly he let go of my hand and ran ahead of me down the sidewalk.
“I belong! I belong! I belong!” he shouted with happiness as he skipped along, arms flung open wide to the skies.
May our hearts too skip a beat as we are healed and become agents of healing through this beautiful and profoundly spiritual gift of belonging.
reflect
Where and with whom have you felt belonging in your life? Can you list the names of the people you belong with or who belong with you?
When was a time in your life that you felt belonging with God and his family? How has that sense of belonging affected you?
imagine
Imagine yourself surrounded by your people. Describe to God in prayer who those people are and what being with them feels like.
Consider who might be missing, who needs to be included. Ask God to help you find ways to bring those people closer.
VALERIE BELL
is an author of several books on spiritual formation, marriage, and family, including RESILIENT: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church. Valerie serves as Awana’s CEO emerita and 2050 vision caster.