Chosen

Tayden slipped in the back door, dropped his books on the kitchen table, and slumped into a chair. "What's wrong?" Mom asked. "Bad day at school?" Tayden nodded. "Want to talk about it?" "Not really." Tayden didn't know if what happened would hurt his mom as much as it did him. He definitely didn't want that. But he just couldn't keep it in. He looked up and saw his mother staring at him. "I guess." He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to find the right words. "In class today, we were talking about our families, and I told them I was adopted. Some of the kids laughed." Tayden paused. "And I heard a couple of them whisper to each other and say my birth mother must have given me up because she didn't want me," he said, fighting back tears."You know that isn't true, Tayden," said Mom. "Your birth mother gave you to us because she loved you so much and wanted you to have what she couldn't give you.""I know, but not everyone thinks like that," said Tayden.Mom put her hand on Tayden's shoulder. "Have you ever thought about some of the people in the Bible who were adopted?" she asked.Tayden's eyes got big. "Like who?""We read about one in Exodus," Mom replied.Tayden thought for a moment. "Was it Moses?"Mom nodded. "Pharaoh's daughter raised him as her own." Mom pulled up a chair to sit next to Tayden. "The next one might be a little harder. She was adopted by her cousin." Mom paused. "She married a king." "Queen Esther!" Tayden exclaimed."Right again. And the most important one in the whole Bible was--?""Jesus," Tayden said slowly. He smiled. "It was Jesus, right? God is His Father, but Joseph was like an earthly father.""Good!" said Mom. "And when we trust in Jesus, we become children of God and are adopted into His family. So you see, God thinks being adopted is very special."Tayden's smile widened. "So do I." And he gave his mother a big hug. – Nancy Todd