You Belong - and So Do I

This is a little blurb I wrote for the first day of MOFM (Morning Out for Moms).  It's about belonging, but I think it touches on things that ALL women can relate to. Enjoy!

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This summer I spent some very specific time in prayer for our group, and a word that kept popping into my mind each time was “Belonging”.  Perhaps “Belonging” can be a theme for us this year as we continue our journey together as moms.

When you think of “belonging” versus “fitting in” what do you think of?

When I think about belonging, I think of being completely authentic, my real self. I think of a group where I can be vulnerable and real without fear of judgement or criticism.  I think of people with whom I don’t need to put on a mask to hide my faults, but where I can be imperfect, and where that imperfection is seen as a strength and not a weakness.

In our recent Bible study, the author Lisa Harper gave a wonderful interpretation of a story from the Bible.  She told the story of little children that came to Jesus, and how his disciples stopped them.  However, Jesus told the disciples "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."

How does that have anything to do with belonging?  Well, let’s say Jesus came in to sit with our group today.  One of the children notices him, and runs to the back room to tell all the others “Hey!  Jesus is here!  Let’s go see him!”.  Our army of children would all come running out from the back room, with cookies smeared on their faces, cracker crumbs stuck in their hair, and play dough caked onto every square inch of them!  They would be a mess.  Likely, when seeing this hurricane of messy children running at Jesus we would all try to grab for our kid – to wipe away a few crumbs, instruct them to be respectful, and to be polite.  And Jesus would say to us, “Stop!  Just let them come!”.

We are all a bit messy and muddy.  We have hurts in our hearts, sins cluttering up our closets, and faults that we just can’t beat. And you know what?  We belong to Jesus EXACTLY as we are!  He doesn’t care how imperfect we look, He loves us.

We want MOFM to be a place like that.  A place where you can come just as you are (are some of you now singing that hymn in your head?).  Please come and leave your masks at the door.  They aren’t necessary here!  Come with your heart open, as your authentic self.  And then, when you leave, do not suffer from vulnerability hangover!  You know the feeling?  You go over every conversation in your head, analyzing and evaluating your every word, your every emotion.  Was I too chatty today?  Did I laugh too loudly at that joke?  Why did I cry there today, they must think I’m such a weak person?!  I think I made a total fool of myself.  You lay awake at night worrying about the impression you left on us.  Don’t do that – we aren’t thinking about that at all.  As Brene Brown put it, “Vulnerability sounds like truth, and feels like courage”. 

My prayer is that each of you walks into this space this year with confidence of your belonging here.  You don’t have to try to fit in – you already do.  You’re a mom – and I bet you are a pretty excellent one!  You will mother your babies exactly as God created you to, and so will I.  Together we can stand strong, encourage each other, carry a bit of the load for someone else, and hopefully each of us will feel so absolutely normal.