You Are My Favorite Child!

On each oftheir birthdays, I address their cards “To My Favorite Child.” When they wereyounger, it was easy to call “The Boy” (our affectionate name for Eli) ourfavorite son, as he was the only one. Trailing him, however, were fourdaughters who all wanted to be the favorite, as well.

As theygrew up, I decided early on that the one I was with would be my favorite. AsBritain and I drove home from school, I would comment to her, “Britain, you’remy favorite child.” And she would beam. When Mallory would come in from practice,I’d greet her at the door and give her a hug and remind her she was my favoritechild. At a track meet, when Eli would come and sit his sweaty body next to meon the bleachers, I would hand him a towel and exclaim, “Eli, you are my favoritechild.” Lydia would dance through the kitchen and down through the hall and Iwould sing as she pirouetted, “There goes Lydia, my favorite child.” And whenEmilie would call me from college, for the fourth time that day, I would answerthe phone and cheerfully say, “Hello, Emilie, my favorite child.”

I’d hearother parents who carefully told their children they didn’t have a favorite;that they love all of their children equally. How disappointing, I thought. Doesn’tevery child have a longing to be their parents’ favorite?

My childrenare all grown now and beginning to have children of their own. I love the adultconversations we have and listening to the memories they share of theirchildhood. Interestingly, not long ago, Mallory and Lydia had a conversationwhere they playfully argued about how they each thought they were my favoritechild. And I just smiled.

God our Father has many children. And I think He longs for each of us to know that we are His very favorite. He doesn’t love us equally; He loves us individually, as if we were His one and only child.

On days Ifeel unlovable, I need only to open my Bible, His personal love letter writtento me, and read a few of His thoughts.

With a love that is vastly immeasurable, the Father exclaims to each one of us, “YOU, are my favorite child!

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3.1