Finding a Place You Already Belong

Opening Prayer

God, sometimes we look for You somewhere else.
In another place,
another season,
another version of ourselves.

But You meet us here.
On familiar ground,
in the lives we are already living,
with ordinary things already in our hands.

When You call us, we wonder if we are ready.
We question what we have to offer.
We imagine someone wiser, stronger,
better equipped for the road ahead.

And still You ask us,
“What is that in your hand?”

Teach us to notice what is already here:
the gifts we overlook,
the people beside us,
the places that have shaped us,
the bodies through which we experience Your world.

Help us trust that calling does not always lead somewhere new.
Sometimes You call us to remain,
to dig our roots deeper,
and to love more fully the ground beneath our feet.

May we listen for Your voice
in what is ordinary and already near,
trusting that wherever You call us,
You have already begun preparing the way.

In the name of God, who calls us,
Christ, who walks beside us,
and the Holy Spirit, who moves within us

Amen

(Kit Kingman)

Benediction

As you leave this place,
look again at what is already in your hands.

May you recognize the gifts you carry,
the people who walk beside you,
and the ground beneath your feet as holy.

When the call comes,
may we have the courage to answer,
not because we possess everything we need,
but because You meet us where we are.

Go in the name of God, our Caller,
Christ, our Companion,
and the Holy Spirit, our Courage

Amen

(Kit Kingman)