I believed that leaving a place meant leaving it’s problems too.

Last week, I met one of my first college friends for coffee. A lot has changed since we split ways three years ago. We traded insight, stories, and laughter until the coffee shop closed down then took our conversation to a bench down the block.

Between the coffee shop and the bench, two hours came went quickly. When we parted ways, I climbed back in the car and made the familiar drive to Katie’s.

The entire way there, I couldn’t help but wonder why I spent so much energy discounting a place that assisted in shaping who I’ve become.

When a relationship ends, I remember the good stuff. In fact, it takes an extra effort on my behalf to recount why it didn’t workout in the first place. But, when my time in a certain city has ended, I feel the need to validate why I left. I tend to say things like, “I really struggled there” when the truth is, I was really struggling everywhere.

At one point in time, I believed that leaving a place meant leaving it’s problems too. When I felt like I couldn’t measure up, I’d crave starting over. It took me uprooting from 4 states to learn that the battles we face don’t lie between city limit signs. Feelings of disappointment, discontentment and unsettledness have less to do with proximity and more to do with our own predisposition.

I’m not saying where you are is where you’ll stay. What I’m saying is where you are is exactly where you’re supposed to be. Coincidence ceases to exist when we grasp the truth that “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)

There are people you’re supposed to meet, circumstances you’re supposed to see, hurt you’re supposed to feel and friendships you’re supposed to find. One thing I know for certain is that you can search the entire world looking for a place to belong. But, the only way in which we will overcome is to get lost in Him to whom you belong.