A Thought: Feeling Special

Feeling Special

It really stinks when we think that we are not special, or worse when someone else says that we are not special. I have had moments in my past when I have heard loved ones say things, “behind my back” to the notion that I was not special to them. It stings, really bad. Now being a father I could not imagine the pain that I would feel if I overheard one of my wonderful children say that I was not his or her father or heard my father or mother say that I was not their son. 

We all want to belong and have that special place. I want to have that security that I matter and that I have a place in the world. With God I do, no matter what I do or no matter where I go I know that he will always love me and that I am special to him. Just like sometimes my children make mistakes and I get disappointed I never stop loving them. I just wish that they would make better decisions and I try and show them things in life that will help them to hopefully make better decisions. That’s the way it is with God. I know that he loves me and because I am a sinner I know that I am going to make boneheaded mistakes. God might get disappointed in me but he will always love me. There have been times in my life when I will try and do something that just isn’t right for me. I will try and try and things just don’t work out. Its about that time that I look up, sometimes literally, in prayer ask God and reflect. Sometimes the answers come quick and easy sometimes I have to take my time, but answers do come. 

It can be very hard in a house full of children to make them all feel like they are special and that they all belong. It is a bit of a hard thing to explain, “Oh yes son you are very important and special and I love you like no other but now I am going to bring a new baby into the house that at times may get more attention than you but you are still special”. That’s how I feel with God. He’s my God I love him and very much and I know he loves me very much but I have to reconcile that he is not here to give me whatever I want but he does give me what I need. That can be a tough pill to swallow in a world where we are told we can get whatever we want almost in an instant.  Being told, “No you can’t do that or have that”, doesn’t fly very well in current American culture, but that is how it is sometime with God. There are rules and there are reasons for those. We may not understand but that doesn’t mean that we should ignore them. 

Most importantly though is that I try everyday to make sure that I don’t make anyone feel like they don’t belong or that they are not special. I treat every request either from my boss at work or my smallest child with the upmost importance. Make sure that they know that I respect their request and will fulfill it the best I can. My youngest child may think that my No’s are arbitrary and mean but they are spoke with love and consideration. I feel like there is such a disconnect in the the world today. I really wish that people would get back to dealing with people instead of a bureaucracy or a video screen. I wish people would SEE people. I wish that we would look at each other in the eye, smile and treat each other with respect. I know that this may seem like a hippie dippy way to think but its what I learned from reading and studying the lessons of Jesus. He preached love, to love they neighbor and thy enemy. To love God with all my heart and all my soul and to love my neighbor as I would want to be loved by them. Jesus taught me that I am just as important as his earthly mother Mary and his brothers and sisters that he had on earth in his time here. Its no disrespect to them but we are all children of God and therefore loved the same. 

So I encourage you to walk through the world today and the following day and to try and project love and caring. I don’t mean that you should try and hug everyone you meet. I find that when I am having bad days if I try smiling and show caring and respect to those that I meet my day turns around drastically fast. I could go into the sociological and psychological reasons why but the fact is that when you put love into the world it comes back to you. God love you and you have a special place in his heart no matter if you pray everyday and go to church every Sunday, or if you have never prayed or gone to church. He is just like a good father, he is willing to let you go out into his world and do your own thing your own way, but he is always waiting for you to come home to him (Church) to call him (prayer) and talk to him. For you are special and always have a special place in his heart.

Mark 3: 31 - 35
31	And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
32	And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you."
33	And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"
34	And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!
35	Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother."