Let’s face it, I could sit here and quote Psalm 139:4 all day, preaching to you how you’re made in God’s image and, therefore, don’t need to compare your body to others. But, I would probably start to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher. 

Like, yeah, we know. We’re fearfully and wonderfully made. 

But, sometimes, reciting this verse just doesn’t have quite the efficacy we need to cure our comparison. 

At least this is how I felt until I took a trip to Norway this summer, which is where most of my ancestors are from. 

When my family lived in Ireland when I was a kid, my sister and I asked our Irish neighbor friends what their ethnicity was. They obviously replied with, “Uhhhh… Irish.” We were kids, okay? We didn’t know how the U.S. melting pot worked. 

We unknowingly responded with, “No, we mean where was your family originally from? We’re Norwegian.” They looked at us confused and said, “We thought you were American.” 

As funny as it is to think about now, it really made me think about how unique we are to have different ethnic backgrounds that we celebrate on a regular basis here in the States. We’re always proud to wave around our Norwegian lefse and krumkake at Christmas time; whereas, some countries don’t necessarily have the same celebratory experiences because their ethnicity is the cultural norm. 

The diversity of people we have in the U.S. is one of my favorite parts about this country. It gives us the unique opportunity to learn about God’s other cultures in our own backyards. 

But, going to Norway made me realize something: we weren’t made to look like everyone here. 

It seemed like every little thing we commonly nitpick about ourselves here in the melting pot — body shape, facial profile, nose slope, the list goes on — was the prototype for the country our ethnicity stems from. 

My whole family was mind-blown when everyone in Norway had our noses, our facial profiles, our tan-averse skin tone, etc. 

Why was that such a profound realization for us? Like, obviously we have Norwegian features if our family was originally from Norway. 

I don’t know. All I know is that it felt like home. 

This experience was a giant light bulb moment for each of us. It made us realize that we do belong, and that God never intended for us to look like the people we compare ourselves to in the USA on a daily basis. 

And I know from numerous DMs and comments I’ve gotten since that we’re not the only North Americans who have experienced this newfound sense of belonging through ancestry trips. 

All this to say, if you ever get the chance to visit the country your family is originally from, do it. Or, take this as your sign to finally book the trip – wink, wink. 

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” -Proverbs 14:30