You Were Chosen

This past Sunday, I went to visit my Uncle Gary's grave with my mom's side of the family. It was the first time for all of us to see the headstone and where he was buried even though he passed away a little over a year ago. I have several other family members buried there as well. While I was there, I started reading the different headstones, the ones of my family members as well as people I didn't even know. I began thinking about these different people that were buried there. I began to think about how all of them had a story. They all came from different backgrounds. They all faced difficulties and struggles throughout their life. They all experienced victories too. They had families. They had friends. They had a life. They had their own story.

One particular headstone stuck out to me more than any of the others. This headstone was for a young girl. This girl died at only 14 years of age. She passed away in the early 1900s and has been absent from the Earth for over a hundred years now. I started thinking about how this girl was a daughter. A sister. A child of Christ. I started thinking about how different life is between a 14 year old girl in the early 1900s to a 14 year old girl growing up in 2010. Life a hundred years ago is completely different to what life is like today. Life would be so tough back then and I became so thankful that I have grown up in the 1990s/2000s. But, I then had a realization. God placed that 14 year old girl in that time period for a specific reason. He had a plan and a purpose for her life. God placed her in a small town in Oklahoma. He placed her with certain people. He placed her in a specific family. He orchestrated specific events in her life. He created her. He wrote her story. And in her story, in order to be used by God best, she had to be a 14 year old girl in the early 1900s. Just like this young girl, we have been placed in the year 2010 for a specific reason. We are not here by accident. We have our own stories that are being written by God. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. We are a chosen generation for this time. And I don't know about you, but I find that exciting. There is a reason God chose me to be 20 years old, a college student, a swim coach, a small group leader, a daugther, a sister, a friend, in 2010. He chose me to live in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He chose us. The GOD OF THE UNIVERSE CHOSE US. Is that good news or what?

Let me just leave you with this reminder- you are loved. you are treasured. you are not here by accident. you are redeemed. you were bought at a price. you are God's. you are here for a reason.