Figure 1 The Hebert Clan
Growing up in a family of seven kids was not always an easy thing to do. Besides the embarrassment of wearing hand-me down clothes that could be up to ten years out of style, things such as sharing a room with three brothers and sharing a bathroom with three brothers and three sisters were difficult and trying times for a kid. Probably the worst thing was at mealtimes. There were eight other people at the table – all hungry – and if you weren’t quick, you didn’t eat. By the time I reached high school, I finally realized that if I would start serving my plate while everybody’s heads were bowed in prayer, I could get enough food to get by.
One potential problem in a big family (Figure 1) is neglect. Although this was not a problem in my family, there were times that I wondered if my parents even remembered that they had a son named Andrew. My parents had seven kids with seven individual schedules. Seven sets of friends, seven sports teams, seven sets of needs. They had a real balancing act trying to give each of us individual attention.
But somehow in the midst of the circus that was my family, my parents managed to make me feel unique and special. My parents were at every single baseball game, every single band concert, at every important milestone in my life. They made me feel one-of-a-kind, and we never were able to tell if they loved one child more than another. They treated us all the same and loved us each as if we were their only child.
I was thinking this morning, if I am treated as so unique and special by my parents in this earthly relationship, how much more unique and special am I to God? I started thinking of all the ways that God acts towards me as an individual. Rather than merely relating to humans as a group, he relates to humans as individuals. He doesn’t lose me in the group or forget about me because there are so many others who look, sound, and act like me. He has a particular plan for my life. He took the punishment for my sin on himself when He went to the cross. He hears me when I pray and cares enough about my individual situation to answer. He created me as an individual. He will one day receive me as an individual. And one day, as an individual in a group of other individuals, I will worship at His feet and thank Him for taking care of each of His children to an extent that merely magnified every good thing I saw in my parents.
Andrew Hebert is a student at Criswell College. He enjoys reading, eating Mexican food, watching the Houston Astros, and listening to any kind of music. He and his wife, Amy, reside in Dallas and are expecting their first child in June.