I am not a prophet nor a prophet's son.

There is a special place in my heart for the prophet Amos.  He is one that I can relate to.  I grew up in a religious set that had it's own aristocracy.  Pastors and their children were like Kings and Princes.  Then there was the rest of us.  I did not fit there.  If there were nobleman that meant your mother was an evangelist and your father a minster or elder.  My mother was a Sunday school teacher ransomed by grace and my father did not believe in God until after I was good and grown.  You can say that he was an atheist.  My grandmother was before her time and discounted because she was a woman.  I was rejected.  At least I could count on my looks, but I was overweight so that left me out.  Among church boys, they looked for sexually active church girls and I wasn't giving up nothing.  They rejected me.  Church women told me that having sex outside of marriage did not mean a thing.  They told me I could jump up and marry elders, like they did.  When I decided to remain celibate until marriage, they rejected me.  After realizing that church was not where I fit in, I went to academia where I excelled.  I loved to learn about things and I did well there until college.  In college, I found that it was not grades that made the person, but money.  If you don't have money, it does not matter about the grades.  I was dirt poor, so many people shunned me.  Can you imagine how surprised I was to receive a calling into the ministry.  I had no money.  I had no pedigree.  I was the wrong gender and in some places, the wrong color.  Amos says that he was not a prophet nor a prophet's son.  He said that he was a gatherer of the sycamore fruit.  He was a common "Joe Schmo" who just happened upon a God who uses ordinary people.  All the signs of ministry weren't pointing at me, but God chose me.  I am a testament to the fact that God does not look at what you have, or who your father is, or what title you have, or what seat you sit in, or how much money is in the bank.  He uses and blesses ordinary lives and causes them to be extraordinary.  I think back on those days when people could barely remember my name and I thank God for the knowledge.  I know that the only reason why society recognizes it now is because God has made it an advantage to know me.  God has made my words a value and my presence a blessing.  Most people who have come in contact with me will never forget me.  That is God.  One time in my life, people mispronounced my name, made me feel bad for spending food stamps and talked about my mother while I was sitting at the table trying to eat.  I was fearfully and wonderfully made then, but I was not a value to anyone.  God is amazing.  If he can do it for me, he can do it for you.