I am Special

In preschool, the children are learning a song called "I am special". Currently, it is being sung in our house on a regular basis. It is a tremendous message for each of the preschoolers to be singing and repeating each day. Too often our world gives us the opposite message. So frequently, what we hear and absorb is that we are not special enough, that we are not pretty enough or smart enough or talented enough or successful enough. Yet each person is special, cherished by God and special in God's eyes. Today, I had a funeral for an older woman who had struggled with mental illness for forty years. She had never married, never had children. She had 12 people at her funeral to remember her life, 12 perople there to honor her life and her role in their lives. By our world's standards, her life seemed full of challenges and pitfalls, certainly not highly successful, and her loss seemed to only touch a few faithful family members who could see beyond her destuctive illness. Still, it is important to remember that her life too has dignity and worth. At one point, she too was a child full of hope and promise, who was full of dreams and excitement. At one point, she was someone's beloved child and always she is God's beloved daughter. No life should pass unnoticed, for we are all special, all precious, all children of God.