"As long as he loves the Lord"

"...Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world..." As a little girl, I remember learning this song in Sunday school. The lyrics of the song gave me reassurance that Jesus finds each one of us precious, no matter what cultural background you may have . Ever since my parents taught me the meaning of this song, I know that race would not be the main concern about the person I bring home.

As an infant, the pastor prayed over me and prayed for my parents as they chose a path to dedicate me to the Lord. Thus, my parents have been committed in training me in the ways of the Lord. After setting examples of this path, they would hope that whoever enters my life would only help me grow further down this path.

In class, we were asked "what would your parents or other family members say if you brought home a person from a different race than yours? What if you were in love with that person and thinking about marrying him, what would they do?" This is a question that I have heard answered before as my older sister dated and is now married. This question came up again once I began dating.

My mom's first question would normally be, "is he a christian?" A christian that only attends church on Sunday mornings or Holidays is not enough in my mom's eyes. My parents would not care about his race; they care about whether or not he knows Jesus. My dad's hope is for my sister and I to have a marriage where we really love the other person. "Make sure you love him" is what they would say.

For as long as I can remember, my dad has always stressed that no matter who it is I choose to marry, make sure I love them and that he loves Jesus Christ. "I don't care if he is purple, yellow, or green. As long as he loves the Lord Jesus, its fine with me," he always says.