I've been fascinated by the beauty of culture since as long as I can remember. The art, the music, the food, the clothes, the traditions, the people. I think the reason behind my deep adoration is that I never felt like I belonged to a specific culture growing up. Constantly traveling and moving throughout my life has shed any sense of belonging I could've had if I had grown up in one place. Realizing this made me emotional, for it put words to something that I have never been able to name before. The loss and grief of not having a consistent culture has really been hitting me hard recently, especially as I've gotten to know the people on my squad and they all have things in common and shared experiences from growing up in America that I don't relate to. I've been struggling with lies that I am unseen, not valued, misunderstood, and that being different from people on my squad is a bad thing. However, those lies are not from the Lord, and He gently reminded me that I do have a culture I belong to: Christ's culture; with a people who all unite together for His sake, practicing time old traditions like the Sabbath, prayer, fasting, and so much more. Our people come together over meals, we have songs of worship and lament, century old hymns and poems, holidays and celebrations of our Lord, communions to remember His sacrifice for us, a book of our people and their stories that thousands have read for generations, and many other traditions that unite us. This culture is better than any other earthly culture could be, because we belong to Him, and that brings us all together. "What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord!" -Psalm 33:12