Belonging

Don't you just LOVE that feeling of 'belonging' somewhere? It's like a delicious warmth that trickles down your spine and reverberates with comfort and joy. Here's a couple of earthly things that give me this feeling:
Jon Foreman's voice - I just love the depth of his voice, the twang of his accent and the rich throaty quality that plagues every one of his songs.
Morgan Freeman's voice - ah! When he speaks, I feel safe (sounds weird - but it's like a comfy blanket!)
Tea - oh yeah! The soft, sweet taste giving me a familiar buzz somewhere from deep within.
West Wing - give me some white house banter any day - I love the characters and the dynamics they have with one another - Aaron Sorkin's a genius - and Joshua Lynam is.... well.... (enough said)
Great books - I'm talking about the kind of books where your imagination takes over so much that you are no longer living your own life, you are in another world. I fall so deeply in love with characters, that they feel like my friends. And when I finish I feel terribly sad, lost and bereft.
Great music - in a word 'Switchfoot' - okay so I do love other music - but I have yet to find songs which resound within me so deeply. It seems that they take the stirrings and longings of my heart and fuse it with music that reflects the very essence of that emotion. Amazing.
My room - I love the feeling I have inside my room whilst I'm getting ready for bed, my lamp exudes a deliciously warm,  yellow light making soft shadows dance over my walls. Whilst the room radiates with memories - from the hand-made Switchfoot poster we brought to the concert, to the incredible bunting my friends made for me. It is here where I can snatch a few moments to reflect, to pray, to praise.
My friends and family - this is most noticeable when I've been missing them. There's a nagging hole which rips open when I have prolonged times away from my friends or family. Yet when I see them again their smiles give me such a resonation of joy and relief - like the feeling of gasping down air after spending too long underwater - reminding me of the amazing gifts from God that they are.
Laughter - It's such a beautiful thing, the way it escapes from the very core of your being, reflecting your intense hilarity at something. Whenever I laugh - and I mean properly LAUGH - I feel at home.

These are all amazing things - gifts from God - but I also want to reflect on feelings of 'belonging' that surpass all of them. Times where the soul and the spirit soar with the knowledge that we were created to glorify our God:
Worship - the surrendering of the soul. Times where I can praise him with songs - and simply stop caring about everything else except for shouting about my King. Where the Holy Spirit ignites the truth of the gospel within my soul and I can't help crying with the pure amazement of it.
Reflecting on the Word - whether its through teaching, doing a Bible Study with friends, or just my own private reflections. There are these incredibly times where I read a passage (maybe one I've read a thousand times before) and it makes something within me leaps with a resounding 'YES' and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, I break out in goosebumps. My whole body resounds with the realisation that I'm not just reading some words on a page, I'm reading the Word - God-breathed - utterly life-giving - TRUTH.
Prayer - Pouring out my heart to the father makes me realise how incredible God is - not only has he the power to answer my prayer, he has the tender love to listen to every utterance! There are times where I've seen prayer being answered right before my eyes, other times I can look back and see how he's answered my prayer in such breathtakingly beautiful ways! I also love times of listening, taking time out just to lie in the silence, and reflect purely on God and what he is doing in my life. I find that the more I search, the more I find, and my whole being becomes overwhelmed with His gracious love which floods every part of my life.

So, what am I trying to show through this blog? Well we have 'homes' on earth - safe havens, but they're often vulnerable and fleeting. There will be times we have to leave the nest, leave the bubble of our comfort zones.
However - we have a home which does not fade, a sense of 'belonging' that comes from being children of God. And the greatest thing about all of this - one day we will enter our true Home - and never have to leave. We will race through those pearly gates and look on in amazement at His face - shinning like the sun!

'This world is where I breathe let it never be called home' Jon Foreman
'In this life you're the one place I call home, In this life you're the feeling I belong' Switchfoot

Where are the places you feel you belong?