A Child of God
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
“No dilly-dallying,” my adoptive mother reminded us, as my close-in-age brother and I left for school. For two kids, our journey to catch the bus was a time of adventurous detours. Nestled amongst the underbrush hid the sweetest-looking cottage. Running down the path to our neighbor’s house, I would yell back to my brother, “Come on, we have time.” We were always welcome to rest in her heavenly backyard.
Looking in awe at the old woman’s beautiful paintings, each picture depicted a story about Jesus. Her pictures were of a different God than I had ever witnessed in my life.
At dinnertime, my stepfather would recite, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest. Bless what thou hast given us.” It didn’t seem to go further than thanking God for the meal. Later, I would hear adults’ raised voices damning God and blaming Jesus Christ for everything that went wrong in this world.
My adoptive mother was brought up in a deeply committed Mormon family in Salt Lake City. After she completed her nurse’s training, it appears at that point, she began not making the best choices in her life. She walked away from the church, but still raised her only biological child, “my big brother” LDS. My adopted brother and I never attended any church while growing up.
I never heard the words: I am a child of God.
Some children are not raised in homes that reveal God’s love. Hopefully, etched in their hearts are paintings of a Jesus that does care for innocent little ones.
Author, JoAnne Bennett
JoAnne Bennett loves to write. Years ago, she started getting brave and writing about the painful parts of her life journey, as well as many triumphant moments. Never did she expect to find that writing was her gift and that she truly does have a voice that matters. Her favorite published piece is about making a difference in the lives of young people in an anthology, Dear Wonderful You (2014). JoAnne’s most recent heart-warming story is in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Wonder of Christmas (2018).