CHOSEN

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? Well I have had the same song in my head for 5 days now. Usually it drives me crazy when I cannot get songs out of my head- but in this case it has been quite perfectly fitting. I love how God uses music. The song is called Daddy’s Girl by One Girl Nation. My step daughter just loves this group. And this song happens to be her favorite. We listened to it twice this morning on my way to work. Ella is absolutely a daddy’s girl. There is just something special there. I can still recall watching her dance with Matt at our wedding. The look in her eyes said it all. She will always be her daddy’s girl. I can relate. I was a daddy’s girl too, which is why I struggled so massively went I lost him. Any daddy’s girl who has lost their dad can tell you it is like a piece of you just disappears. The song says:

Our souls are forever tied together
Through tears and all the laughter
You love me like no other
You say I'm the center of your whole wide world
I'll always be my daddy's girl

For the past six years I have grieved and healed grieved and healed, and grieved and healed some more. Most of this time I have clung tightly to the hurt; however occasionally I opened the door to my Dad vault. Overall I have been stuck in the verse “you love me like no other.” I feel like my Dad was the only person who ever really got me. We share so many characteristics- some good and some bad. I thought there was nothing stronger than the father daughter bond. In a way this is true- but not in the way I was thinking. You see as much as my earthly father loved me- my Father in heaven loves me more. He chose me. Really chose ME.

The love that you gave me came from another
Passed down to me from a Heavenly Father
Who chose me as his daughter

Well this got me thinking. What does it mean to be really chosen? We chose things every single day. We choose what bunch of bananas to buy. We choose what clothes to wear. We choose what type of gas to buy. We choose a doctor. We choose what song to listen to when our stepdaughter allows us. We choose a snack to eat. We choose our furniture. Choice after choice after choice. But what do we base our choices on? Typically it is on some type of quality or preference- best price, best taste, best skills, etc. I have yet to see someone pick the mushy brown banana or the broken recliner. We want the best. Think about it. In school when kids line up to pick teams for dodge ball what are they bases the choice on??? You want to pick who is going to do the best- not the scrawny kid that can barely lift the ball, not the boy in his own world who cannot focus, not the girl that hides in the back terrified. Picking flowers to plant… are you going to choose the near dead weedy looking flower or the one with bright beautiful blooms? Are you going to pick the doctor with no experience and bad reviews? In other words we typically do not choose the broken, messy, or weak.

So why did God choose me? I am far from the best. I am a bigger mess than that mushed up brown banana. Here is what I have discovered. God did not design me to be a broken mess. Nor did he design me as the best. He did however have a plan. God created me to be me. He gave me freedom of choice and endless love to surround me regardless of choices I made. God knew I would mess up, he knew I would make dumb choices; he knew I would be full of flaws. Yet He never abandoned me in my mess. In fact He had made beauty out of brokenness. Look at David- scrawny little guy who no one would have guessed could take down Goliath. How about the boy with focus difficulties that turned into the most loving doctor anyone could imagine. Or the dead azalea plant I bought my mom as a child that bloomed with gorgeous pink flowers year after year. How about the near rotten bananas that are used to make delicious banana bread?

No matter how broken we are God chooses us. And to me that is the best kind of love anyone can ask for. I’m not sure about you, but I will always be a Daddy’s girl.

Choose to join us. Choose to notice. We will be meeting Thursday July 10th at 6:45 – 8:00 pm at McAllister Recreation Center just off 20th and Schuyler, Lafayette.

As always we will have free activities for all ages.

We hope to see you there!