Daughter of the King

"In that moment, time stopped.  It was like God was speaking to me directly, "Mary Beth, you thickheaded woman, do you not understand now that this is the very way I see you?  You are this orphan!  I adopted you and you are Mine!  I bought you for a price!  Do you see how you love this baby?  That's just a faint reflection of how much I love you!  You didn't have a name, and I gave you a name.  You did nothing to deserve my love, and I love you anyway.  You had no hope, no future, and now you are the daughter of the King!  I saw it.  The second she was placed in my arms, I would have fought to the death to protect her.  I loved her with everything inside of me.  "Do you get it now?" God was saying to me.  Under the blanket, this baby wrapped in rags.  She was poor.  She didn't smell good.  She was hungry.  There was nothing about her that had "earned" my love.  But I loved her powerfully, deeply, absolutely.  Period.  I got it.

~Excerpt from "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman