It’s Five-Minute Friday again, and this week we’re over at Crystal Stine’s place with the word BELONG.
Ready … GO.
It’s pushing a trolley through a Cape Town Pick n’ Pay and asking where to find the ketchup instead of the to-MAH-to sauce, calculating the exchange rate between dollars and rands, and wondering how many millileters are in an ounce. It’s signing the credit credit card slip and being asked if that’s really your surname, and then a quizzical look before, “…Why?” It’s answering with an American twang why you have a Tswana surname, and still being unsure whether the cashier believes you. It’s climbing into the driver’s seat on the right hand side of the car, rolling down your window a crack to tip the car guard with a five rand coin before stepping on the clutch to drive your stick shift in the left lane.
It’s going back “home” to the States and realizing your twang has been sanded down over the years, softened and eroded after a decade abroad, and having local natives ask you where you’re from.
It’s that nagging awareness that you don’t really fit here or there, and then the subsequent, beautiful freedom of eyes being opened and knowing that
we’re not supposed to.
As long as we’re living in the in-between, in the already-not yet, in the waiting room between the fall and redemption, we’re not supposed to.
“All I know is I’m not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong …”
~ Where I Belong, by Building 429:
For a great series on belonging, visit Bronwyn Lea’s 31 Days of Belonging over here.
(P.S. I created a Five-Minute Friday board on Pinterest .. it’s over here if you’d like to check it out!)
heading home 
I had that song in my head all day because of this prompt 🙂 Sometimes knowing it’s ok to feel out of place is just the peace I need.
🙂 Love that song. It’s definitely one that sticks in your head, though!
Love this, and the sense of a place helping you belong. It’s the same for me too.
Glad this resonated with you, Peggy! Thanks for stopping by!
Yup. So true. I’ve been living in China with my family family since 2009 and am “back home” now for a few months… at least, everybody else says, “back home.”
It’s a strange tension, isn’t it? Thankfully, for those of us who are in Christ, we know we have a “real” home waiting for us .. 😉
Dumela, mma! 😉 In SA, my name was Keamogetswe Tladinyane. Even in the name, there was belonging. Keamogetswe-I am welcomed. (Though if you know Tswana, you know that LOL) You aren’t the only one rediscovering who you are in this once-familiar-now-strange place, and learning to belong again.
And personally, I prefer the to-mah-to sauce.
Dumela! Love the name, love the meaning, love reading about your experiences in SA. Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to more connections in the future!
(P.S. .. I’ve changed a lot of my vocab, but I still say ketchup.) 😉
I love the song from Building 429. Perfect! I was touched by your words about living in the in-between because so many times that’s where we find ourselves. The glory is that we do have a home and it is with Christ. Lovely post. Blessings, Mary!
Thank you, Mary!
Incredible perspective, Kate. I loved this. “As long as we’re living in the in-between, in the already-not yet, in the waiting room between the fall and redemption, we’re not supposed to.” …This resonated. Big time.
Thank you for your post. Always love your encouraging words!
Oh, so glad to hear that the Lord used it .. thank *you* for the encouragement! Have a great weekend!
The older I get the less I want to fit into the normals of society. I am so okay with being unique and special. And yet we all need a trible. So glad you belong to the FMF tribe.
You know, I’ve heard that from other women, too. Gives me hope. 😉 Thanks for sharing that encouragement.
Amen! We are not of this world…and all of our longings and heartaches are reminders that there is another home. Another place where we belong. Beautiful post!
Exactly .. sometimes that’s hard to remember in the daily grind, but so vital!
Enjoyed reading your post- stopping by from FMF.:)
“As long as we’re living in the in-between, in the already-not yet, in the waiting room between the fall and redemption, we’re not supposed to.”
Love this, Kate!!!
Thank you for bringing your lovely words and your reminder of the fact that where we are headed is where we belong!!!
Beautifully said. We don’t belong here, and sometimes I have to remind myself of that. It seems as though the gap between us and this world is widening. But maybe that’s what God wants. I guess that as the world gets darker, our light shines more brightly.
Good point! Keep shining for Him!
I think this was such a great write, Kate. I totally know that not belonging here nor there and even homeland seems foreign. I love how we’re reminded that even in that, we’re not home yet.