-by Shirlee Vandegrift

If you are a believer you already know you are special.  God loved you so much he created you. He “knit you together in your mother’s womb.” Isn’t that special?

I venture to guess everyone has had a time, or times, of doubt.  If I am special you tell yourself why do bad things happen to me? Maybe those times of doubt happened in school. You failed a test, you weren’t chosen for the school play, you weren’t asked to the prom, you didn’t get accepted to the college you had your heart set on, you just weren’t special enough. You weren’t special enough to get married, or to have children, or stop your mate from straying, or bring your ‘prodigal’ children back to the fold.

Oh, the tears that have been shed. Oh, the prayers you have prayed. Oh, the questions.  Who hears? Who answers? You pray alone and you pray with others. Impatiently, you await the sound of That Voice responding to your pleas. Are you special then?

And then it comes. That Voice! Not as you imagined, perhaps not as you requested, but That Voice, present nevertheless. It comes when someone tells you that they have been praying for you. You are not some solitary figure standing alone in the presence of God, speaking quietly and hoping He hears. You are now a gathering of two, or maybe even more, comforted by the knowledge that you are so special that others will join in bringing your requests to the Father on your behalf. And you are so special that the Father listens.

Such an unexpected blessing, to know how special you are.