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Get my book or gift it to a friend for only $1.99!

in Back Roads to Belonging· Belonging

Last week, we thought we were gonna have to put our dog down. She couldn’t walk, eat, drink, or use the bathroom regularly. And let me tell you, this dog is beloved. B-E-L-O-V-E-D. Our chocolate lab, Georgie, has solid territory in our hearts, and really, I surprise myself at how smitten I am with her. Until recent years, I was not a sentimental pet person. After all, I grew up believing all animals should live outside because the inside was for the people. Alas, time and having animal-loving-kids softened me, and both our dogs are inside dogs.

It’s been a hard year, and I DID NOT WANT TO LOSE THE DOG, especially since I knew it would bust up my three kids somethin’ fierce.

Anyhoo, Georgie rallied and kind of shocked us all by returning to her near-normal self. She’s still a 9 year old lab, so we know we’ve had more time with her than we’ll have in the future. But for now, we celebrate that she belongs with us, and we belong with her.

And really, this kind of sums up part of my belief system on belonging: Even if you and I don’t feel we belong as we’d like and want to know belonging in a deeper way, we can be thankful for where and with whom we belong today.

Now, I know some of you have been mighty shaken because you lost someone or something that was infinitely important to you and a mainstay of your own belonging. Perhaps that loss springs from:

  • A shift in marital or family relationships.
  • A loss of an important friendship.
  • A difficult employment transition.
  • A move across the country.

After all, a difficult change often precipitates a loss in belonging.

Also, your stress over a lack of belonging may come from sensing you’re trying to belong where you’re not meant to belong. Maybe you need help with:

  • Creating healthy boundaries between you and others who are toxic.
  • Clarity in seeing how you’re trying to belong in more places than God ever intended anyone to belong.
  • Learning how to become a Belong Maker as you devote your time and energy to the best places for you and your people.

If any of this resonates with you, please consider picking up the digital form of Back Roads to Belonging. It’s only $1.99 right now, and here’s the handy links to find it:

Amazon 

B&N

Christianbook (it’s only $1.59 here!) 

If you’re so inclined, consider sharing this deal with your people, too?

You would have my eternal thanks for doing so!

Also, the digital companion guide for the book is available for FREE right here.

Here’s to belonging right where we are, keeping our head and heart open for new places of connection, and remaining in Christ and relaxing into the places God has us today. 

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Filed Under: Back Roads to Belonging, Belonging

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On Instagram

This week brought to you by family heart-to-hearts This week brought to you by family heart-to-hearts around the fireplace, tulips on the table, and my first trip of the year to the garden store. ⁠⁠
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Never underestimate the ministry of flowers for you and your family. ⁠⁠
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"Home is never simply a threshold you cross. It is a place you make and a place that might make—or unmake—you. In this halfway space, we would begin to learn the costs of stepping into the role God first gave in a garden: to be, like Adam and Eve, the makers and caretakers of a particular place." ⁠⁠
~Christie Purifoy (@christiepurifoy), in her stellar book Placemaker ⁠⁠
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#backroadstobelonging
Holler if you're a fellow expert at coming up with Holler if you're a fellow expert at coming up with worst-case scenarios and making plans to divert them. ⁠⁠ 📣
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In this particular case, I thought I had foreseen every possible problem. I took measures to ensure the best possible outcome. I’m not talking about anything outlandish or expensive. Rather, I used good ol’ hard work and productivity to take care of things responsibly.⁠⁠
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And then came the turn of events only God saw coming, and all my forethought and “responsible planning” didn’t amount to a hill of beans. I didn't asked for or want this outcome, but it was what I had.⁠⁠
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Yeah, it's easier for me to daily assess the risk of doing something than to lean into trust.⁠⁠
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I write more about this at my second online writing home, @incourage. Visit the link in my profile to read more. 💛
I belong where it will snow in April (and May!), b I belong where it will snow in April (and May!), but where spring always comes, eventually. ⁠⁠
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Where do you belong today?⁠⁠
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#whereIbelongWednesday
Remember my post from a few weeks ago about our fr Remember my post from a few weeks ago about our friend Ryan, a USAF vet, who lost all all feeling and control from mid chest down due to a sudden spinal stroke?⁠⁠
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This is his wife, Rebecca, and she is one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world.⁠⁠
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Sometimes when a change comes that turns our world upside down, God works through others to turn it right side up again.⁠⁠
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This gal has surely been a turn-the-world-right-side-up gal in my life, and now I'd love it if *we* could help do the same for her.⁠⁠
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As Ryan undergoes physical therapy and rehab in the spinal cord unit of the VA hospital in Denver, we would like to help Ryan and Rebecca defray the many costs not covered by insurance following this spinal stroke, such as:⁠⁠
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▫️Outfitting Ryan and Rebecca’s home for needs regarding Ryan’s limited mobility.⁠⁠
▫️An outfitted vehicle that’s wheelchair accessible.⁠⁠
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These needs and several more are on Ryan and Rebecca's own dime, and they cost a shockingly WHOLE LOTTA DIMES. ⁠⁠
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If you're interested in helping with these needs and/or sharing about it with your people, please check out the link to our fundraiser in my profile.⁠⁠☑️
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Swipe to see a pic of Ryan and Rebecca and a pic of the GoFundMe page.⁠⁠
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And on behalf of Ryan and Rebecca, thank you for your continued prayers!⁠⁠❤️
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