A Targeted Audience

It happens to me every month. My husband brings the mail in and hands me my Parents Magazine for the month. I sneak a peek at the cover and, upon seeing the featured articles, I laugh a little. They are always – always – somehow eerily relevant to what we’re going through in our family. Bedtime struggles, suppertime aversions, taming temper tantrums…whatever it is that has been on our minds, that is what the magazine editors have chosen to feature.

It struck me as odd, really, until I thought about it recently and realized that there’s a reason for the correlation. The magazine business knows their audience, and knows what they need to read and hear. My concerns are not unique, and most likely, other parents think the same things when they see the covers every month.

“They did it again! How did they know?!”

“Oh, thank goodness…..what page is that article on?”

“Honey, I’m going to be in the living room…..I’ve got to read this NOW.”

There is a sense of community, too, when I read those pages. As a stay-at-home mom, I get the reassurance I need. I see that I’m not the only one doing this. I’m not the only one feeling what I’m feeling and struggling with what I’m struggling with. Raising a child is not unique to any person, nor are the troubles and strife that come with this, the most satisfying and fulfilling job in the world.

I’m struck by what happens with my magazine every month, but something much deeper happens on a daily basis (when I allow it to). Has this ever happened to you?

You sit down for your quiet time, or even flip to the assigned passage for a group discussion or devotional. Perhaps you scour your concordance, looking for something – anything – to speak to the ache your heart is feeling. As you read, you think, “Wow. Thank you, God. Thank you for that message. I needed that.”

It may not happen every time, because let’s face it – there’s a lot contained in those leather-bound pages. However, when it does happen – and the more you read, the more often it will happen – it is deep. Soul touching. Heart wrenching. Exciting to the point of tears. Intimate and personal.

“He wrote this for me. He knew somehow…. I’m not the only one…..”

What a gift….a blessing….a treasure….to know that the One who sculpted your life has not forgotten about you. He knows you, right where you are, and knows what you need. He hears your cries, even when you don’t know you’ve uttered them, and He sees you when you are convinced you’ve done a great job of hiding.

He knows, and He cares. He cares enough to address everything you feel in a personal, specific letter He has written to you. What’s more…..someone else has been there. Someone else, too, has felt what you’re feeling.

He knows me. He cares about me. And…..as precious as anything…..I am not the only one who has ever felt this way. What a treasure.