I was born in Philadelphia shortly after the end of WWII. My parents took me back to their hometown in Western Pennsylvania when I was just a few months old. I grew up in a little town outside of Pittsburgh called Charleroi.
My father worked for Corning Glass and then in the steel mills. Sometimes he had to work out of town and only came home on weekends. I remember times when he was out on strike, and we stood in line for the food given to those who worked the picket lines.
My parents did not have much money. At Christmases, my brother and I would alternate who got the “big” gift and who got the small one. I remember one year I wanted a bike, but it was my brother’s year for the big gift. I was shocked on Christmas morning when there were two bikes under the tree. I still don’t know how my parents made that happen.
I also remember the following summer when that bike remained in Pennsylvania while we packed the car with what we could take to California. My parents had enough of the strikes and accepted an invitation from mother’s aunt to move where my dad could find steady work.
Maybe that is why I am so moved each time I read Peter’s description of what we are when we surrender our lives to Him. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” [1 Peter 2:9 HCSB]
Instead of a poor little girl in a nothing little town, I am a chosen race and a holy nation. Instead of a little girl holding her dad’s hand waiting in line for milk and cheese and bread, I am a royal priesthood. Instead of a heartbroken little girl leaving her most prized possession, her beloved bike, and moving 3000 miles away, I am a possession of the King of Kings and LORD of Lords (with all the benefits and privileges that accord).
Thank you, LORD, for calling me out of darkness and into Your marvelous light. Amen.
