The other day, my wife and I were watching our kids play in our backyard. They were running around, throwing the ball and climbing in and out of their treehouse. Hearing their laughter slows the world down.  We love these moments and treasure them.  
 

However, as we sat watching them play, we did what all of our friends with older kids or who are empty nesters tell us not to do: we started looking into the future. My wife and I began contemplating what the next grade school would be, which college would they attend, what their majors would be, where they would live, if they would ever settle down, etc. 

These questions allowed me to ponder what our life would look like when my wife and I "grow up" too. A home with no children had me saying, "wouldn't a small bungalow on the beach be nice... just a two or three bedroom home." My wife immediately said we could not downsize since we would still need to have room for all 3 of our children to come back at holidays, and with grandkids. I thought for a second, and shared that this may work to our advantage. Maybe we could downsize anyway, and the child that is our least favorite at that time has to go stay in a hotel. This would keep all of our children vying for our attention even after they leave. We would get better Christmas presents! Probably even more phone calls to dear old mom and dad! 

In saying this, I got a quick look from my wife, and of course I was only joking. We don't have favorites.

However, I have felt at times that God had favorites and I wasn't one of them. That whole part where Jesus says he goes to prepare a place for us, that in His father's house there are many mansions... I have figured I would be lucky to have a dog house. Certainly, I have thought, not only am I not a favorite... Jesus can't love me.  

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have a missionary friend in Nicaragua, Tony, who wears a t-shirt stating in bold letter "I am Jesus's favorite."  When I asked Tony how he could say that, he points to John.  John, the author of the Gospel of John, stated several times that he was the disciple that Jesus loved. If he claims to be the favorite, I can claim it too, and you can as well.  

Paul clearly understood the relationship we have and our standing with God. In Romans 5 he writes:

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."
- Romans 5:8-11 (NLT)

And again in Colossians 1:

"This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault."
- Colossians 1:21-22

It is abundantly clear in the scriptures that you are Jesus's favorite. That He is for you, with you and loves you. Breathe this in, and know that no matter what you've done or where you've been, Jesus looks at you and loves you. Doesn't that make you smile? Doesn't that change your self-perspective? If the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, says you are His friend... that changes everything!

Check out this video from a friend of mine, Jason Fowler, who wrote a song called "Smile" where the opening lyrics state that He (Jesus) can take all of our brokenness and put it to good use. That Jesus makes us smile! The video depicts people that certainly seem to have hit "rock bottom," and yet even then Jesus can make us smile because we are valuable to Him.