CHOSEN

Have you ever been the odd man out? Rejection is reality. It happens to us all. It happens all the time. For every evil in the world there is an unequal and opposite good. I say unequal because the good is far greater.

The greatest desire of both God and man is to be chosen.

Chosen. I like to be chosen.

All that is good and right in my life is because I am chosen.

It all started with an irresponsible pair of college students in Lubbock Texas. Wise beyond her years, my birth mother wanted more for me than what she thought she could offer. She checked herself into a home for pregnant women. She knew it would be better for me to be chosen.

Two local kids and their young son were making a go of life in Amarillo. They knew something was missing. So my parents and my brother stood before a judge and I was chosen. They took me to Odessa Texas and never let me forget that I was chosen.

When I was 16, my behavior merited a separation from my car. I rode the bus home one day. At the back of the bus was a young looker sitting with her boyfriend. She looked right through the crowd and zeroed in on me. I did not know it yet but I was chosen.

When I was 17 my good friend informed me that a really good looking girl wanted to meet me. Then I met the girl from the bus. I have never stopped loving her. It is good to be chosen.

Years later, I had made a real mess of my life. The only thing that kept me hanging on was the realization that I was chosen. My loving parents and my friends at a Church across from the park in Odessa Texas wouldn’t let me forget that I was chosen.

One day I was talking to my father. He told me someone had called asking about me. That girl from the bus was back in town. She was back in town to find me. I guess she never really stopped loving me either. Once again I was chosen.

As I ponder my children, I wonder,” Why me?” How could I be the one chosen to turn them into responsible adults? Each of them has their own strengths and needs. I don’t always understand how to do this. But, I know who must do it. Once again I have been chosen.

I try to live my life deliberately. I have my own place in this world. I have a fate, a destiny, a purpose. I am chosen.

When I count my blessings on Earth and when I look forward to my treasures in heaven, I take joy that I am chosen.

I like to be chosen.