Longing to Belong

My 11 year old daughter has finally talked me into letting her join the Girl Scouts. A neighbor across the street is going to be the leader and her daughter and my daughter are eagerly awaiting the start of this brand new troup. Our first parent meeting is Monday, but I went ahead and ordered the "Junior" age starter kit. Which included her vest, some emblems, the handbook, badge book, a couple of other books and a drawstring backpack. I got the call at work on Monday afternoon, the much anticipated package had arrived and she was begging to open it. I told her she had to wait until I got home from work...just kidding...no way I could have done that to her! So anyway, by the time I did get home she had the vest on, some of the pins on it and her books in hand! We sat down and went through several of them, finally spending the majority of our time on the badge handbook. This is where you can see all the different badges and the requirements to get each one. By this point, I'm pretty excited too. A lot of these badges will need my help and I can see this turning into quite a fun mother/daughter thing. Except for maybe the part about spending half of spring selling cookies in front of Wal-mart! It reminded me of her time in AWANAs and her excitement of getting that first vest as well. Now my daughter can get pretty excitable anyway, but I was thinking about why, especially over something as simple as a green vest and badges. My excitement came from knowing the time that I'll get to spend with her. Hers was on the vest and the actual badges she will earn. Then I realized, it isn't the actual vest, but what the vest represents to her. She will BE a Girl Scout, she will belong to this troup, this council. She will be a PART of it. And deep down, don't we all really want to belong?

We post it on facebook by the groups we join, I announce to other drivers that I'm a certified SCUBA diver by my car tag and dive shark emblem, we wear clothing to show the sports team that we identify with and as Christians we join churches, youth groups, and small groups.

Luke 9:49, 50 (NLT) John said to Jesus, "Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons. We tried to stop him because he isn't in our group." But Jesus said, "Don't stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you." How often do we pass someone over because they aren't in our group or circle of friends?

As Christians, we are all an important part of the body of Christ. Just look at a few of the many examples of how we belong to Christ.
Romans 1:6 (NLT) "You are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ,"
Romans 8:1 (NLT) "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."
Romans 12:5 (NLT) "We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others."
Romans 14:8 (NLT) "While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord."
Galations 3:29 (NLT) "And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you."
Ephesians 2:13 (NLT) "But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ."
I John 3:1 (NLT) "See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don't know God, so they don't understand that we are his children."

You matter and you belong!