A friend of mine, weary of the race to achieve in society, broke out of the box around herself and her family by celebrating mediocrity!  Her point was that we all matter, even those of us whose abilities are just average.

            Interesting.

           I appreciate people who think differently, don’t you?  They challenge us to think differently.  Different thinking is like a crisp, fresh breeze blowing through stale, stagnant air.

            God made us all unique.  All you have to do is take a look around to see this!  So I guess this means that God appreciates differences too.

            Now and again I’m at church while preschool is in session.  Seeing the children reminds me of the days when my daughters were at Gentle Shepherd.  I like to watch the kids (they’re soooo little!) as they walk along in a line behind their teachers to chapel.

            They are all so different!

            Some of them have curly hair and some straight.  Some of them dress fancily and some rather plainly.  Some of them look all around or whisper to a friend as they walk, while others seem far, far away in their imaginations, or sleepy, or timid.

            I just know that God cherishes them all, particularly because they are so interestingly different from one another.  I’m sure their teachers appreciate their differences too.  (Of course, should one of them choose to break the line and run about the church in order to be different, well, let’s just say that would NOT be appreciated!)

            It is precisely then, as the children follow along one and the same in a neat little line, that their differences really stand out. 

            I love that passage in John (Chapter 10, verses 1-18) where Jesus calls Himself “the good shepherd”.  I love finding myself there – the “other sheep” that has been brought into the fold.  I love the image that comes to mind of Jesus calling his sheep “by name”.  He leads them as a group, but He knows them individually. 

            Think of all those sheep, all different and yet all following along because they know The Shepherd, they know His voice.  They would never follow another!  They know that The Good Shepherd knows best, and that with Him they are safe.  They follow along because they know that He loves them and will care for them!

            Different as they are, together they belong to Him.