redeemed.

A young brown haired, hazel eyed girl takes out her crayons and begins to write a sign to be hung up...but its not for something an everyday 7 year old girl would be trying to find, like a dog or a lost bracelet. It is something much more important. It's her own father, who went missing 3 days before. No calls, no notes, no scent left to find him. Now tears, worries, and frantic calls surround and buzz around the apartment that she lives in with her family. They were one of only two white families in the neighborhood. The diversity that gave those city blocks life-giving breath was the same diversity that she would come to love in the future. It allowed for tasty foods from far away countries, new words, and different looking friends that caused color blindness. That same melting pot was drenched with crime infestation, gun shots, addictions, and days of not being able to play with those different looking friends though. The latter is what caused the girl's father to leave his family behind. It was too strong to fight. He couldn't do it. It had begun to overtake him. No more family, no more job, no more him. Only the drugs. His eyes were set on one thing and he was willing to do whatever it would take to get them, even if it meant leaving his family behind. He wasn't the father he should have been. His attention was split. His cares placed elsewhere. He wasn't there. The fleshly desires of the world were creeping into this tiny apartment like fumes...through the cracks in the walls and under the door. It wanted to overtake and capture each person left in there. The little girl took her crayon colored sign to her sobbing Mommy to hang up. She wanted to find her Daddy.

A few long and weary days later, he came back...red eyed and irritable. The family couldn't take anymore of this. How much longer could they go on hiding secrets and suffering in this way? Thus began the years in and out of rehab and safe houses. Relapses and remissions. Moves out of the melting pot to try and help fight temptation. During this roller coaster, the little girl met a special someone. She was not too fond of him in the beginning. He was different than how she had known him before. She began to fall in love with him though. He began to capture her heart. He was her first love. He caused a separation in her family. Not every person liked him. She didn't care though.

Fast forward 8 years later, everything seemed to be more status quo. The sweet and sassy little 7 year old was now growing into a beautiful 15 year old. Everything seemed more normal, or so it was thought. One early summer day in June, the teenage girl, her brother, and mom went out. The girl walked into her living room and saw a white piece of paper hanging on the TV. It was from her father. It talked about how he loved the family, but that he could not be with them anymore. He wanted to go find himself. Screams and wails left the young girl's mouth. Mom knew right away what it was. Their world as they knew it, was about to turn upside down. Where would they live? How would they eat? Who would love them? The fumes of the world tried to come into their house again, just like it tried years before, or maybe they had left with the bags carried out by the girl's father that morning as he drove off. That was the last the girl would see of her father for a while.

The world says this little girl has few choices now. Her father is gone and has not been there. She will live on the street. She will abuse drugs. She will become pregnant. She will find her worth and identity in men. She will leave her family and divorce. She will fail in school. She won't accomplish anything of worth. She is worthless.

But...
The world was wrong. She does have a Daddy. She found Him. She wanted to find Him when she was making her sign. He wasn't really lost though. She just couldn't see Him then. He was there the whole time. She found Him years later. He was the man that not everyone liked. He was her first love, the one that captured her heart. When daddy left, she didn't have to worry because she knew she still had DADDY. He had chosen her. He had promised her. He had redeemed her. He had loved her. He had formed her.

The world might say on thing. But this girl knew that her Daddy said another. He told her that she had a future and a hope. She would prosper and be blessed. She would be fed and clothed. Every need would be supplied for. She would be rejoiced and sang over. She would never be left or forsaken. She would have a beautiful inheritance. She would be His vessel and used for His purposes. She would accomplish great things. She was a worthy woman created for His glory. She was worth it all.

This girl had been redeemed. He wanted to save her from evil and sin.
The world had tried to seep in through those cracks and windows, but something was stopping it each time. A person more powerful than any other was keeping it back. That person wouldn't let anything touch the little girl. His blood is what would save her. He would suffer and die for her. He would be raised from the dead and enter glory to sit at the right hand of His Father for her.

He was there. He never left. He was her DADDY.

What's your story? Look back and see how you are not who you "should" be. The Lord has redeemed you and made you His.
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are MINE." -Isaiah 43:1b