Chosen!

    It’s a marvelous word filled with love, acceptance and belonging.

 From the time I was a very little girl

    I have hungered to belong.

For when I was chosen and knew I belonged

    I felt safe.

Visions of standing at the door of each new classroom come to mind.

Wanting so much to be accepted.

It was easy to know my desk and learn the rules of the new classroom

    but belonging came slowly

          if at all.

There was the nicest teacher in my first grade class in Ashokan, New York.

She was young and pretty

    But that’s not why I liked her.

No, it was her caring heart. She somehow knew how hard it was to be the new one.

Anyway very Friday she would bring a freshly baked cake to our class.

Whoever had been the best behaved that week

     got the cake.

Yes, I was the new kid

    and I tried very hard to be well-behaved,

         to follow all the rules

         to read each word in my primer correctly.

I’ll never forget that Friday

    watching her as she stood in front of the class

    holding the cake covered with thick frosting.

      and smiling at us.

She’ll never choose me, I thought, although I had tried so hard.

And then I heard her slowly say

    “Now the cake this Friday goes to………”

 Could it possibly be?

Could it really be my name I heard?
Boys and girls on each side of my desk were clapping and laughing

   as the teacher walked towards me with the cake. The rest is lost in the wonder of the moment.

Shining moments all over the place.

I will never forget the thrill of being chosen.

Oh, I know that many others were probably just as well-behaved or better

    but my teacher knew I needed to know that I belonged.

That changed everything for me that year.

No longer was I the shy, quiet girl hanging on the fringe.

Instead I had a place, a purpose and a peace of mind.

Chosen

    You are chosen

       by the One and Only One Who knows all about you and loves you still.

Chosen. He already celebrates your life and wants you to know it.

Cakes galore for you.

Matter of fact

    He loves you so much

       He took the punishment for your sin upon Himself.

Oh can it possibly be?

Yes, He’s chosen you.

My teacher chose me and showed it in a way that I got it.

God chose you and continues to show it in countless ways.

“You have not chosen Me; but I have chosen you….(John 15:16)

He longs for you to grasp His Love for you

    because once you begin to

     it changes everything.

You realize that you are accepted and safe

    and that it’s not about you

    It’s all about the grace of God.

Well, I’m forever celebrating His grace in my life.

How about you?

You are chosen!

Have you heard? Do you know?