I AM A CHILD OF GOD

Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:2-3 (NIV)

I shared an unforgettable evening with my stepmother this past week. We attended a book-signing event featuring Mitch Albom and his recently released novel, The Next Person You Meet In Heaven. Time passed quickly as he shared bits and pieces of his life and writing with us. And like his novels, his words lingered in my mind long after the evening came to an end.

Thoughts of Chika, a little girl from Haiti, awakened me in the night. Memories of watching a video during the event of her singing “I’m no longer a slave to fear—I am a child of God” filled me. She appeared to be singing for an audience of One, seemingly unaware of anything around her, content in her solitude with the Lord. Although at the time I felt like an intruder, I couldn’t turn my eyes from the scene before me—pure worship, adoration and trust. In a matter of seconds, a child I had never met etched a permanent mark on my heart.

No matter the number of days we are given, our lives are interconnected, and even one chance encounter has the potential to change us. Change the way we believe … change the way we worship … change the way we love.

Chika went home to be with the Lord, but the memory of her singing and her childlike faith shall stay with me forever.

Father God, Thank You for little children—for the times we experience the beauty of pure worship and absolute faith through them.

© 2018 Amy A. Verzi