One of my favorite people on planet earth was my uncle Kenny, my mother’s brother. He was about five years younger than her. Once when he was home on leave from the Navy, he visited us. He sat my sister and me on each side of him (we were about 4 and 5). He lifted his thumb to his mouth and blew air into it. His arm muscles bulged. He told us to do it. We put our thumbs in our mouths and blew air as hard as we could. But nothing happened of course!
Another time when we were about 11 and 12, we were at a family gathering at my aunt and uncle's and Kenny came outside. He was tall - over 6 feet - and had black hair. He combed his hair into his eyes made an ugly face and started walking toward us. I was old enough to know better, but I still screamed and ran for my life! Kenny had fun with us and made each one of us feel like he liked us. We felt valued around him.
It is such a wonderful thing to know as Christians that we are immensely loved and valued by Jesus. Scripture reminds us that God showed us how much we mean to Him. We are told, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). WE are soooo loved and valued by God no matter what our circumstances are.