(a 3 minute read) Ashton & Taylor are siblings 11 months apart in age. They were in the same grade. As you may imagine, the competition between them was something fierce throughout their lives. They were of course competitive in soccer & lacrosse as well as who’s got the better grades or gained the teacher’s attention. The one thing that drove them nuts more than anything else, was to figure out which one their parents loved the most. People always say that parents have favorites amongst their children. Ashton and Taylor tried their utmost to figure it out.

Whenever one of them asked, “Am I your favorite?” They’d get answers like, “You know I love you!” Which, of course felt good but was not the answer either was looking for, and therefore frustrating. Both Ashton and Taylor were good kids. They worked hard, always received awards at school for academic and athletic abilities. Helped in their community and were involved in many charitable efforts.

Sometimes Ashton would think, “Am I doing these things to impress my parents? Or am I doing them because I want to?” And Taylor would contemplate, “What if I just go hang out with my friends instead of working my butt off at practice?” Then Taylor would think of the disappointment the parents will feel if they found out.

You should hear the conversations that would sometimes ensue between Ashton and Taylor. They’d actually recount how one of them did better than the other in this or that, and therefore their parents are prouder of one more than the other.

This competition of whom did the parents love most was literally never ending. No matter how much love their parents expressed to either, they felt that there had to be a tilt in the scale, even if it is ever miniscule.

Do you, the reader, relate, empathize and connect with this?

This is actually how each of us relates to our Lord and Creator………… I must be special to God. I am doing everything in my power to impress the Lord, then why shouldn’t I be special…………….

The problem with this underlying thought, belief, confidence, understanding, consideration or perception is this;

                    If I am special to the Lord, then someone will believe that
                                                they are not AS SPECIAL……

To share LOVE is to not even give the slightest inkling that there is any sort of imbalance, and it is my job, my task, my responsibility to share with those less confident of the Lord’s LOVE that I am not special in anyway or in any manner or in any capacity. Why? Because no matter how much you tell someone that they are just as special, it really never sinks in. Therefore the alternate of “I am not special either” will in fact be easier to grasp, understand and relate to!

Prayer; My Lord and my Creator, I come to You thankful for how You LOVE each and every one of your children. May I expel any thought in my mind that I am special in any way. Better yet, may I eliminate behavior that I carryout day in and day out, that in the least may reflect that I think that I am special to You my Lord. May this behavior reflect YOUR NATURE and relate more to my brothers and sisters. I thank You for how much YOU LOVE. Amen.