Happy National Middle Child Day!

…What? You’ve never heard of it?

Neither had I (and I’m a middle child, so…), until I was scrolling along on the Internet this morning and bam! Some ads for TV shows I watch (Fresh Prince, anyone?) were wishing happy middle child days to the middle child of the fictitious TV families. Apparently, this “holiday” comes every August 12, and – not surprisingly – most people don’t know about it. Including myself. Of course, it’s a holiday made up by a blogger somewhere in Somewhere, USA, to slightly jest at what some people call “middle child syndrome”, which in finer terms, is basically the art of forgetting that one of your children (the middle one) exists. I had a really good laugh reading an article written by a middle child on the holiday last year, or as he calls it, “the day the world forgot to celebrate.”

I laugh and joke about being the middle child (and I have such a fantastic family that none of the syndrome “symptoms” apply), but the truth is that many, many people feel just as forgotten as the proverbial middle child. For example, in the Bible, David wasn’t a middle child but he was definitely forgotten, so much so that when the prophet Samuel came to David’s father Jesse’s house to anoint one of them as the new king of Israel, Jesse only presented his first seven sons to Samuel! David came up as an afterthought – Jesse didn’t even mention him until Samuel asked if he had any other sons, and even then, Jesse gave the excuse that he was out tending to the family sheep! (I Samuel 16:1 – 13 NLT)

But thankfully, David didn’t let that experience faze him. He was anointed as the new king of Israel and later went on to write Psalm 139, where he joyfully expresses his thankfulness to God because he knew within his heart that he was “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14 NIV) David discovered one of the best feelings in the world: knowing that we’re chosen by God.

He chose us.

Each of us are beautifully, wonderfully, and uniquely designed by the God who created the intricacies of the universe, made to fulfill His purposes for our lives on this earth. That fact makes me smile, and it makes me incredibly thankful. No matter who on earth may forget my existence, the One who matters the most remembers me, loves me, and chose me. In the times when we’re tempted to feel dejected because no one remembered our birthdays, or because no one’s called to ask how the job is going, or because no one’s emailed just to check up on us, remembering that we are chosen – specially designed to fulfill God’s purposes – should most certainly brighten our days.