(be)longing

so i’m pretty much chomping at the bit to be home. every little fiber of my body is ready to be absorbed in the oregon air. there’s two weeks that i have left in minnesota, and it’s been really hard to not count down the days. time goes slower when you are aware of it, doesn’t it? and to top it all off, i’ve never been the patient type.

there’s a strange sense of belonging that comes over me when i think about coming back. i’m not really sure why, seeing as i’ve never really felt like i have a home. is it possible that roots are starting to poke out from my feet? is it possible that i’m ready to settle?

i’m not so quick to say that. but i guess it is possible.

point is, i don’t think it’s so much salem as much as it is my friends and family in salem.  ecclesia is my house church, and more than just in the sense of where we meet. being with them is where i belong. why is that? because that is where God would have me belong. true, we’re a motley crue of people, and sometimes it doesn’t really seem like our lives are making drastic changes. yet when i look back over the past two-three years that we’ve been together (from josiah asking us to speak as we feel lead to having to interrupt discussion to get back on point),  it’s very obvious that this little thing that started as a bible-study among late-night dirty-birders (red robin folk) has drastically reformed many of our lives, and for the better.

i belong among the strange questions and the unspoken doubts. i belong in the acoustic rantings and quiet introspections. it’s my home because it’s where people who are vastly different from me (and i vastly different from them) can connect with the longings of my spirit (and i with the longing of theirs). so yes, i’m coming home. and no, i don’t mean salem. i mean wherever it is that He is with me. and He’s saying, “let’s go back and spend time with our family.”

so, jordan, angie, jordan, kevin, jordan, matt, katy, kenny, holli (holly, hollie?), jolie, brent, turner, jenn, kelly, sarah, dale, paula, d.j., lindsey, michael, julie, and taylor:

i can’t wait to see you. and i can’t wait to once again take part in the body of Christ with some of my favorite toes, eyes, noses, eyelashes (halleen), etc.