Have you ever felt like you could relate to the story of the black sheep? As if there was no one around you that you could identify with, no one with whom you had most things in common? Growing up in a divided home I often felt like the black sheep. My parents divorced before I was 2 years old, leaving me with no memories of them ever being together. I was the only child of their relationship. Both of my parents remarried and had other children. That is when the feelings and questions began. “Who is like me? Who do I look like? Am I a part of this family?” I never really felt like I belonged in either family, leaving me to wonder, “Which home accepts me more?”
God often uses experiences from our childhood to bring us closer to Him, and in my case that is exactly what He did. When God began to witness to me through a friend I had met, I was so intrigued by the way she spoke about her “church family.” She would speak about them as if they were her next of kin. I had never experienced anything like that at any church I had attended. The concept of “church family” was completely foreign to me. I remember I could not believe someone could love someone else like that and not even be related to them. I remember how much I desired to know more about this experience.
I know what it feels like not to belong, so this concept of accepting people as “family” was something I could relate to.
1 John 3:1-2 NKJV
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
The Scripture says, “We shall be like Him!” When we see Jesus, we will KNOW who we belong to! When I was filled with God’s Spirit and baptized in Jesus name, I truly felt like I belonged. I will never forget the feeling when someone first called me Sister Amy. I belonged in this family.
There is nothing like the family of God. By the world’s standards we might not look like a family, but I have never felt closer or more connected to any other body of people than I do to the family of God!
John 1:12-13 ESV
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
If you have felt like an alien in a foreign land, a “black sheep,” or just felt like something is missing in the way you connect to those around you, come home to the family of God.
God often uses experiences from our childhood to bring us closer to Him, and in my case that is exactly what He did. When God began to witness to me through a friend I had met, I was so intrigued by the way she spoke about her “church family.” She would speak about them as if they were her next of kin. I had never experienced anything like that at any church I had attended. The concept of “church family” was completely foreign to me. I remember I could not believe someone could love someone else like that and not even be related to them. I remember how much I desired to know more about this experience.
I know what it feels like not to belong, so this concept of accepting people as “family” was something I could relate to.
1 John 3:1-2 NKJV
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
The Scripture says, “We shall be like Him!” When we see Jesus, we will KNOW who we belong to! When I was filled with God’s Spirit and baptized in Jesus name, I truly felt like I belonged. I will never forget the feeling when someone first called me Sister Amy. I belonged in this family.
There is nothing like the family of God. By the world’s standards we might not look like a family, but I have never felt closer or more connected to any other body of people than I do to the family of God!
John 1:12-13 ESV
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
If you have felt like an alien in a foreign land, a “black sheep,” or just felt like something is missing in the way you connect to those around you, come home to the family of God.
Amy Cormier is dedicated to her work for the Kingdom of God. She, her husband, Joshua, and their three children, Tayton, Jaci, and Ty, reside in Lake Charles, LA and have attended Livingway Pentecostal Church since the Lord led their family there as new converts in January 2013. When God filled Amy with His Spirit, He set a fire in her that has grown more consuming with the passing of time. Her love for God shines through her commitment to the spiritual and her hunger for His Word, and her love for His people is most evident in her burden for children and young adults. God has used her to minister to youth through bus ministry, Sunday school, and Bible studies, but Amy’s zeal for God is also apparent in her contributions to an adult small group and in her work as a real estate agent. “The thing I love most about my career is it allows me to reach others outside of the church.” Now, Amy takes on a new challenge, sharing her affection for the Kingdom, through writing.
Scripture taken from the English Standard Version used by permission; public domain.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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