One Little Child in the Midst of a Crowd
Ray and I were only a few miles from my Aunt Dot and Uncle Preston’s driveway before she texted me this picture from 1961. To my knowledge, I have never seen it before. It is a treasure.
The little boy in the front and the taller girl in the back are my uncle’s youngest brother and sister. The five children across the center are yours truly, my brother Steve (called Stevie back then), Dot and Preston’s sons Jack (called Jacky then) and Jim, and Dot and Daddy’s baby sister Emily. We are celebrating Jack’s third birthday.
Dot was a generous and gifted party giver in our childhood. One year she even threw a birthday party for my brother Steve.
Besides giving you a retro glimpse into the early 1960s, this photo illustrates an irreplaceable parenting responsibility — and joy. This is Jacky’s birthday party. Jacky is not only at the center of the photo, he is the center of the day. Every child at the party is cherished and important, but today all eyes are on this unique, special, wonderful person who is valued beyond words.
Every child needs to know that he is a cherished individual. He or she is not only “one of the kids.” He or she needs to know: “You are the only person in the world who is exactly like you. I love you personally. You are my one and only Jacky (or Susie or Tommy or Jill or Ben).”
Theodore Roosevelt Sr. knew this principle and devoted himself to living by it. In her biography of her famous brother, President Theodore Roosevelt, his younger sister Corinne wrote this about their father:
My father was the most intimate friend of each of his children, and in some unique way seemed to have the power of responding to the need of each, and we all craved him as our most desired companion.
I want my husband, our children, and our grandchildren to know what Theodore Roosevelt Sr.’s children knew, that I love each of them intimately and uniquely. This story from the life of Jesus helps me see that our Father in heaven loves each of us in the way we all long for. Let me remind you of this familiar event:
One day Jesus was passing through Jericho. A man in Jericho by the name of Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus, but he was so small that he couldn’t see over the crowd. He ran ahead of Jesus and climbed into a tree. Wouldn’t you love to see that little man peering down from that sycamore tree?
Out of the whole crowd, Jesus noticed this one little man. Jesus told Zaccheus to come down in a hurry because He had to stay at his house that very day. Zaccheus obeyed.
This invitation led to yet another encounter between Jesus and people who didn’t like Him associating with the people who knew they needed Him. Zaccheus revealed his repentant heart to Jesus. Then Jesus said:
Today salvation has come to this house,
because he, too, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come
to seek and to save that which was lost.
Luke 19:9-10
Jesus saw the crowd and He loved the crowd, but He also saw one little man in the midst of the crowd.
 Just as the Father has loved Me,
I have also loved you; abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments,
you will abide in My love;
just as I have kept My Father’s commandments
and abide in His love.
These things I have spoken to you
so that My joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be made full.
John 15:9-11