By Beverly Lomosad
For thou didst form my inward parts: Thou didst cover me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. – Psalm 139:13-14
Tatiana is a fictional mermaid character in the imaginary Seven Seas world. She had one big ambition: to compete in the biggest swimming competition called Mermaid Games. The problem was – and a big one too – she had no tail fins, which made mermaids, well, mermaids. Her uniqueness drew contempt from the other mermaids, who scoffed at the notion of her ever reaching the Games. But with the support of her adoptive sea turtle parents, she persisted and trained hard. Ultimately, she not only reached the Games. She dominated the Games. The children’s book The Mermaid with No Tail is a fictional spin on the life of Jessica Long, born Tatiana Olegovna Kirillova in Bratsk, Russia. At 13 months, she was adopted from a Siberian orphanage by a Christian American couple. Due to congenital leg deformities, she was amputated below the knee when she was 18 months old.
A real-world Paralympic swimmer, Jessica is one of the most-decorated American athletes of all time, winning her first gold medal at 12 years old. From that point on, she doggedly pursued swimming, always aiming to win the next gold medal and to set the next world record. And it became a source of self-worth for her. However, despite the accolades, fame, and financial success that poured in, anger had kept biting at her soul. Her adoptive parents had raised her in church, but it didn’t help to assuage her pent-up anger.
“What I heard a lot of was that God made me this way, that God has a plan for me, that God loves me. I knew I didn’t like it and didn’t want anything to do with this God that made me this way,” she said. But, one Friday evening, during a youth group Bible study, feeling the weight of her anger, she made a decision to surrender it to God and receive Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. “I made a decision to give God my whole heart. And for the first time, after I had prayed, I felt enough,” she said. Through her book, Jessica teaches kids that, “The thing that makes you different is your greatest gift.” Even the Bible teaches about how, beyond the physical, God’s calling makes every person different in the divine plan for each one to be serving and loving another and ultimately edifying the church of Jesus Christ (Romans 12:3-8).
CALL TO ACTION
A life with God starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
- PRAY OUT LOUD: “Father in heaven, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Amen.”
- WHAT’S NEXT: Be part of a good, Bible-based church.