If I remember correctly, I was in early elementary school when some neighborhood kids in middle school invited me to help them build a treehouse in the nearby woods. I felt so cool. The hideout was built between three trees and you had to know the right way to walk back into the woods and find it. I got to know the way. I helped them carry scrap wood and buckets of nails, I swung a hammer and imagined we were building the coolest tree-house ever constructed.
I didn’t become best friends with that group. In truth, they probably let me tag along because I could contribute supplies. Nevertheless, the feeling of belonging is a good one. Especially if we are working together on a project or pursing an adventure together.
Over the last several Sundays we’ve been talking about how the God often operates in the world through us. Families and churches and neighborhoods work to the degree we each do our part. God has equipped each of us to play certain roles and step up to jobs in different ways. Whatever the contribution, we belong. For me, a life of faith has challenged me to consider the callings in my life. Faith has invited me to consider that I belong to the God and can collaborate with the God to accomplish that divine goal of love and service.