This is Where I Belong

Hello Everyone! 

   I have to start by saying I am completely blown away by the faithfulness of God. I am officially fourteen days away from leaving for Georgia and I am proud to say I am FULLY FUNDED!! WOOHOO!! I have to start by saying thank you to my supporters and everyone who continues to believe in what God is doing through Adventures in Missions as I once again go on another missions trip through this organization. I feel incredibly grateful to have the support I do within my family and friends that have donated. I wanted to log on and get a bit honest with you all and tell you where my heart has been these past few weeks that I have returned from meeting my team and prepare to go back and start a nine month journey with them. Buckle up because this may be a long one!

   Since being home, I have grown closer with old friends, I have made new friends and I have enjoyed the company of my family more then ever. Every single time I have left to embark on a new journey, I have been ready to go. I had my time here but I was never interested in staying. These past three years I had been more then ready to get out of small Ohio. This time feels so different then it ever has before and I cannot quite put my finger on why. Maybe it is the fact that I will be missing my brothers first year of high school, or not getting to invest in my new friends and old friends, or every Sunday night my young adults group will go on and I will not be there, or that my Pastors will go on preaching life altering messages that I will not get to hear. Maybe it is that for the first time in my life, I have felt like I belong here, at least for now. 

   It is a strange feeling to have a sense of belonging. All of my life I have never felt like I had a place here in little Ohio. I always felt like I wanted more. When Jesus changed my life four years ago, I knew I belonged for the first time to something greater then I ever had before in my life. In Ephesians one, Paul says,

 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things of heaven and things on earth.”     

   In this rather long passage, I have highlighted five words because these five words are words of acceptance into the family of God. As I read this passage, I knew I belonged. We are blessed, chosen, adopted, redeemed and forgiven by God. We are his children. Ephesians is an incredible chapter about identity and God has really spoken to me about who I am and how I belong through this book. I think as I am writing this, I am realizing the more I know my identity in him, the more I belong wherever it is he has me which is why leaving seems so incredibly devastating this time around. Though I belong here in Ohio right now, I also know I belong in Georgia, Guatemala, Cambodia and Eswatini over these next nine months. It does not make leaving any easier but I know abandonment is a good thing. It is something that has changed my life over and over again and will make coming home much more special. Abandonment of comfort is a growing process every single time. It teaches me to pick up my cross daily as well as leaving behind your life for the great commission. Jesus is worth leaving behind every good and comforting thing.

   My pastor, Dan Gregory, just preached a phenomenal message on how Jesus+Nothing=Everything. We do not have to do anything to deserve life with Jesus. When we follow him and obey him, he gives us everything we need. We do not need what culture says we need. We need to put Jesus in the forefront of our lives and when we focus on him and keeping him first, all of the rest follows in his way.  I believe we all desire to feel a sense of belonging. I believe that desire comes from the mere fact we are made in the image of God which is found in Genesis chapter one when God says, “”Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” We were created to belong in the family of God. Those who deny it, find belonging elsewhere, examples like their jobs, friends, sports and so on. The reason we never truly feel like we belong is because we are looking in all the wrong places. I have lived in those places. Trying to find purpose without finding God is a life full of disappointment. The enemy comes in and destroys purpose and meaning. But a life with God at my center is a life of abundance which Jesus states in John chapter ten when he says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” 

   Leaving is hard. Leaving my people is hard but I have peace because I know it means that I just have a huge loving heart molded by God. He has changed me in incredible ways. I am sad to leave behind the ones I love once again but I know this journey I am about to embark on is going to just grow me into a woman God wants me to be. Becoming a leader to these racers is a huge responsibility that I do not take lightly. In fact, in my flesh I am terrified to step into this season. That is only the human in me to be afraid of an opportunity God has so gracefully given me. The enemy seems to enjoy reminding me that I am of no perfection, that I have no business leading this group of young men and women. His cunning attempt to destroy a gift God has graced me with some days gets the better of me. But at the end of each day, my spirit tells me this, I do not just get to lead these people with the grace and love God has given me, I am honored. I am honored to be trusted by God to lead these people. I know HE is the one who leads me and HE is the one in where my help comes from. I know I will not be perfect. I know I will not have all of the right answers but I do know that my Father is right beside me to pick me up when I fall down and guide me down the path of grace when I mess up. He does not ask me to be perfect, he just asks me to trust him and follow him. I have confidence in him alone which allows me to have confidence in myself.

   I belong in his family and I belong in this position because I have been chosen by him. This is going to be a season that I must fully embrace and trust that he has chosen me and I am more then ready to endure. That sense of belonging gives me peace and I pray for all of you that you would find that peace of belonging in the family of God. My prayer for all of you is that you belong therefore you were chosen for the position you are in right now BY GOD. Give him praise for that today. I know I will be. 

   Thank you for joining me on this journey and constantly giving me love and support. I hope to have given you a little bit of insight of who I am and where my heart is at this time. You are all near and dear to my heart and I appreciate you all for always coming back for more. Peace and blessings to you all!

With love, 

Hannah