I Belong

The moment I walk through the open doors, I’m hit by the fresh scent and feeling of a warm spring day. Small flower arrangements adorn every table, but in the corner of the room under a sign that reads, “Bloom Bar,” an entire florist’s wealth of colorful blooms and greenery waits patiently and invitingly, brimming with life and possibility.

As I don my nametag, I am ushered toward the table filled with tiny vases of all shapes and colors, urged to choose one that brings me joy, then led to the tables laden with even more flowers and lined with craft paper. Buckets of tulips, irises, roses, and mini carnations line the middle of the table. I know the names of these, but there are also veronicas, solidagos, delphiniums, asters, and many more that I can’t put names to until later.

I can take as much time as I would like to browse among the blossoms, chatting with the other ladies at the table as we create our flower arrangements. Some people, like me, choose to be simple. I pick a “filler, thriller, and spiller,” cutting them down to fit into the tiny but beautifully intricate vase I selected. It’s perfect, and I love it. Other ladies seem to work miracles, fitting as many different types of flowers into their small vases as they possibly can. Every single arrangement is unique, gorgeous, and precious.

When our arrangements are complete, we are invited to join a table anywhere in the large room, adding our personal vases to the ones already at the center of the tables. As women fill the tables, the centerpieces expand to include each person’s vase, the room eventually filling with the most unique and lovely mix of flowers at every table.

No two arrangements are the same, reflecting the uniqueness of the ladies at the table. And yet, just as the many vases create one beautiful centerpiece, so the women at each table create a small, cohesive community. Every woman is different, but she brings her own beauty. She has a place at the table. She belongs.

This was the message of the Belong Women’s Luncheon, held at Territorial Headquarters (THQ) on April 15. And that message was conveyed even before the official welcome from Commissioner Donna Igleheart, territorial president of women’s ministries.

“Look at the flowers on these tables,” Commissioner Donna urged. “Each one was chosen. Each one is different. Each one has its own color, its own shape, its own fragrance. And yet, placed together in that beautiful vase that you chose, they create something none of them could create alone.” Welcoming the ladies – THQ officers and employees, Atlanta Temple Corps employees, Evangeline Booth College staff officers and cadets, along with registrants’ special guests – she continued, “As beautiful as those arrangements are, nothing compares to how you look today.”

This is the third year the Ministry to Women Department has done something special for THQ women officers and employees, saying thank you for their daily ministry and for supporting the hundreds of officers and thousands of employees around the Southern Territory.

“Over the last several months, we have been prayerfully asking a simple, but powerful question: What do women really, truly need right now? And the answer kept rising to the surface. They need a place of belonging, not just attending something, not just being invited into a space, but more than that. Being known. Being seen. Being connected in Christ and with one another.”

This luncheon additionally served as a preview and launching point for the Ministry to Women Department’s “Belong” initiative. “‘Belong’ is not a program,” Commissioner Donna explained. “It is a way of leading and loving others well. It is a way of creating spaces where women can experience real connection, real community, and a real spiritual growth, and where women can encounter Jesus.”

Building on the foundation of their recent “Gather” initiative, “Belong” encourages growing deeper connections in Christ and with one another. “And with that comes a challenge for all of us. To keep our eyes open, to look for those on the fringes, to notice who may feel unseen, unheard, or unsure if they belong at all,” Commissioner Donna explained. “We were created for connection. We are called to belong.”

Following a delicious Mediterranean meal, special guest speaker Jeniffer Dake spoke on the spiritual significance of belonging. “When we do not feel like we belong, our growth in that area is stunted.” Psalm 68 says that God places the solitary in families. “He doesn’t want us to fulfill our need for belonging; He desires to fulfill it for us.”

“You were placed here. You were placed in this family, and God put you here,” Jeniffer said. “And when you are placed in a family, you are accepted exactly how you are.”

Explaining David and Jonathan’s friendship in the Bible, Jeniffer spoke on how David welcomed Jonathan’s crippled son, Mephibosheth, to his royal table. “Mephibosheth had everything he needed except community and belonging… And the amazing thing is, when you pull up to the table, nobody can see your iniquity.”

In the same way, God invites us to His table, exactly as we are. “All of you, your brokenness, your weakness, your shame, your guilt…when you sit at the table with the Lord, none of that is visible.”

Jeniffer invited us to talk to God about things that are already happening, putting ourselves into the space where He’s already moving so we can easily keep our eyes on Him. When our eyes leave God, the result is hopelessness, “But at His table where you belong, the situation is no longer hopeless.”

When we praise God, He gives strength and fruitfulness. “And God is saying, when you become a woman of praise, you become like a war horse, ready and strengthened to run into battle. When you belong, you praise. When you praise, you are strengthened. And when you are strengthened, you are a war horse who can fight the battle.”

“What is the battle you need to fight?” She continued, “The Lord wants you to hear His voice and to know that you belong, and that He is ready to pour His Spirit out upon you.”

All gathered then took a few moments to pray for each other, lifting up those around our tables, thanking God for granting a place of belonging at His table, welcomed just as we are.

Commissioner Donna concluded with a challenge to invite the people in our lives into deeper community. “I can guarantee there are women around you, there are friends, there are coworkers, there is a neighbor just waiting for someone to say, ‘You belong.’”

This event was not only a small glimpse of the community we will experience in Heaven, but a beautiful preview of what can be accomplished by utilizing the Ministry to Women Department’s new “Belong” resources, launching on Ministry Toolkit and saministrytowomen.org this summer. A companion Bible study will be available through the YouVersion Bible application.