Recherche (adj.); carefully chosen, rare, exotic

Sometimes I feel like I don't matter. I feel like I am just a small speck in this great big world. Sometimes I think that I can't make any difference that someone else couldn't make. 

The above may sounds like I'm trying to throw myself a pity party over here. Let me be clear... I am NOT. I'm not looking for any kind of reassurance. I am relaying a feeling that I am almost positive everyone has felt at one point or another. The feeling that says you aren't anyone special or you can't make a difference. The feeling that says, "you're unique... just like everyone else". While that may be true, that you are just as different as anyone else is different, you have a specified role in this great big world. The world would not be the same without you. 

It's the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect is the concept that small causes can have large effects. For example, taking a wrong turn on your way to work could help you avoid a car accident that you would have otherwise been in. A smile to a passing stranger could mean the difference between them going home with open arms or going home drunk. 

A few years ago, I went on a mission trip to Fiji with a group from my church. Not tourist, luxury Fiji, but way in the mountains of Fiji where there was no indoor plumbing and we slept outside. We spent most of our time in a village called Nasivikoso. On one occasion, we were travelling from a larger village called Bukuya, to a smaller village called Timbali to help with a kids camp where the children from Bukuya were supposed to be for a camp-like event. Through a miscommunication, we discovered that the same truck we had taken to get to Timbali, was taking the children back to Bukuya. Once we realized this, we sent for a truck to come and take us back. We were informed that they would come later... Which on "Fiji time" could truly mean anything. 

While we were waiting, the chief of the village asked us to put on a show for the small group of children who lived in Timbali. We happily obliged and some incredible things happened. 

1. Almost every child accepted Christ. We were able to give them bracelets to remind them of the Good News Story. Some of their parents even asked for bracelets and prayers. 

We answered question after question about salvation and Jesus. We shared testimonies, sang songs and encouraged.

2. My mother found her moment. 

One of the girls in the group had a disability. She was non-verbal and couldn't stand or walk, or even sit up by herself. Here in America, my mom works with special needs kids. She has an incredible heart for these children and finds so much joy in being around them. God immediately brought this girl to my mother's attention, and my mother wept. See, she had been watching everyone else and feeling like she didn't have anything special to offer that anyone else didn't have. As she held this girl, all she could say was, "this is my moment". She realized that, had she not come on the trip, or had we left immediately or didn't come at all, she would not have had that special connection. If I am honest, I am not sure the rest of our team would have stopped to hold this girl as long as my mom did. Some of us would have stopped, smiled, and prayed and would have continued to play Frisbee with the able-bodied children. 

My mom's heart, however, was attracted to this girl. She talked to the girl's parents and shared that we have children like their daughter in America. She was able to share that they are not alone and could tell her parents how very special she was. 

See, my mother was specifically chosen to be on that trip and in that moment. She was gifted with a unique set of passions, just like everyone else. But not everyone else had her specific passions. Not everyone else would have had the same emotional effect on that family that she did. If we had not been stuck in the village of Timbali, that opportunity would not have presented itself. 

I know this isn't my story... But it was the best one I could think of to illustrate how special you truly are. YOU (reading this right now), are chosen specifically to be exactly where you are. You are given the opportunity to be in your situation right now when no one else is and make the difference than no one else can make right now. You simply have to choose to take advantage of it. It is not by accident that you are who you are. You are carefully chosen because God wanted to use YOU. YOU do not have to say all the right things, or be the perfect person to enhance your situation. You have been given the tools you have, and the people you surround yourself with to make a difference right now. Not a week, year or a decade from now, but right now. 

You have been chosen because you are rare... just like everyone else. You have been given the chance to exact change with your specific passions... just like everyone else. You have the power to change your current situation and make a difference... just like everyone else.

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 ESV