SHE’S MINE (Remember who you are)

My four-year-old granddaughter, Bug, and I kneeled by her bed to say our nightly prayers.

Baby Sister, Mommy, and Daddy were still at the hospital, so we needed Jesus to tuck us in.

"Lord, please bless my precious Bug," I began, "And please bless my new little baby…"

I felt the touch of a familiar little hand urgently shake my shoulder and peeked over to a pair of blue eyes staring me down two inches from my face.

"What's the matter?" I asked, touching her cheek.

"Nik," she began calmly, trying to hide her irritation, "She's not your baby."

"Oh?" I marveled at her ability to discern relationships at this young age. Hadn't I always said this girl was advanced?

"Nik," she slowly repeated, "She's not YOUR baby. She's MINE!" 

And just like that, she laid claim to her baby sister, and I stepped aside.

Because I knew she was right. 

Baby sister, HER baby, was born of the heart long before she arrived at the doorstep.

Bug had laid her hand on Momma’s belly to feel baby's kick, called her name through the darkness to tell her she loved her, sang silly songs in a voice that her baby would turn to once they were face to face.

So, how much more are we loved and wanted by our God? 

We are the flesh of His flesh, the bone of His bones.

Jesus has sung His lullaby over us since we first began.

Long before we were born, He claimed us for His own.

Who am I? You may wonder in this lost and lonely world.

"You are mine," Jesus whispers patiently, His lips pressed against your soul.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."

(1 Peter 2:9, NIV)