someone's favorite ...

Today, one of my third period girls told me I was her favorite teacher! 

Melted my heart, despite the fact that ...
1. 10th graders are fickle and I might have already lost that status.
2. I let them use their notes on their lab quiz
3. She was currently coloring microscope parts and she liked it
4. She already assured me she would NOT get an A

But still ... do we ever outgrow the desire to be someone's favorite?  I dare say we don't.  Somewhere deep inside us, in a place that was carved out before we could even put words to it, there was a place that was made to be loved, to be chosen, to be someone's favorite.

I was not the kid EVER picked first for a game.  I remember in 7th grade PE that my best buddy even ditched me for someone who was better at ping pong (I was bad ... but still).  I'm 42 and I still remember being left out.  And today, 42 and single, those are the hard days.  Going to church by myself, to weddings without my +1, and being asked if I have a "boyfriend" (yes, they already asked).  It's those times that I feel like that 13 year old being ditched in ping pong.

Marriage doesn't make us whole.  And it doesn't ensure that we are never lonely.  The beauty of the gospel is that we were CHOSEN before time and for all of time.  Praying that the days I feel left out serves to remind me to open my eyes to my kiddos who feel that so much more acutely ... and that the days of being someone's favorite means that I've made THEM feel CHOSEN in that moment.