“I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1b).

She had been my first grade teacher and I hadn’t seen her since we left California. It was a blast from the past the evening someone pointed out to me where she was sitting and it didn’t take long for me to go give her a hug. I met up with her a couple times over the weekend but one comment she made stayed with me and gave me fuzzy circles around my heart. “I always think of your grade as my children. I never had children and I have always thought of my first year students as mine. I’m so proud of you.”

That weekend every time I saw her or thought of her among the hundreds of people, my mind and heart remembered that comment. To think that this teacher… this woman who taught my grade of twelve students when we were seven years old, still thought of us as hers. To think that this teacher made such a spot for us in her heart that forty years down the road, she was still proud of us and still thinking about us. To think that this mother in Israel had no children of her own, but twelve students who she still thought of even when we had grown far beyond her class— even when we didn’t have any idea that a far away former teacher was still thinking of us and carrying us in her heart. 

My heart wanted to do a happy dance. Every time I saw her from that moment on, I loved her a little more. Every time I ran into her I wanted to thank God for her. And when she was leaving and I caught her up in hug, I told her I wanted to take her home with me.

As we flew home and I thought about it more, it all reminded me so much of God. We were his to begin with, born from his very thoughts. Ever since we were only a thought in his mind, his heart has been set on us. The Bible says it doesn’t matter how far we wander or how far we roam, but that He is still there. His heart is still with us. We can go to the depths of the sea or take to the wings of the morning and He is still there. Still thinking of us as his. He has never forgotten that small human. He wants us.

My former teacher told me how to get her number and when I got home I did just that. I took her number and I put it into my phone. Then I messaged her to tell her it was me. With that action, she not only still chose me, but I chose her too. I formed the line of communication between us.

And that’s the way it is with God. He has chosen us from the beginning of time, but in order for it to be complete, we must choose Him too. We ask Him for his number—his forgiveness. We put it into our phone—into our hearts. Then we talk with Him and claim Him as ours too. We want that connection with Him. We long for it just as much as He longs for us.

And as we do so, our hearts do a happy dance. Our souls are reunited with his. We love Him more than we could have ever imagined. We can’t thank Him enough. And most of all, we want to take Him home with us. Home to our hearts, home to our families, home to our people. All because of a Father who thought of us as his and told us so.