Mum, why did God give me to you?

My five year old daughter has repeatedly asked me this question in the last two weeks.

I said "Because God knows I needed a cute little girl to cheer me up. "Because you are special and God wants to give you to a special mum and dad. "I don't know why."

The answers she came up with "Because mum, you are married, so God gave you a baby." "Because I have black hair and you have black hair, so God gave me to you."

I am not a psychologist or could even try to say I'm a kid specialist being a mum to only one child. I am trying very hard to work out what goes on in that little brain. Is she starting to realize she is human? That she has not been in existence before she was born. And is she coming to realization that being born, somehow she lands up in this family and not any other family, is this by chance or is there a reason or purpose to it? Or is she not happy or just happy being in this family?

My real answer is "I don't know." There is nothing that I have done within my control or creative powers to create this little person. I do not even have the power to choose which kid, like buying food supplies or clothes.

Then I ask myself, why was I given to my family? Compare this with all the people of the world. Babies are born every day into families who are rich, poor, loving, abusive, educated, less educated, single parents, in different parts of the world, in cities, in villages, some give them up or some end up with no family.

Mum, why did God give me to you? The next time, maybe I'll try, "We've got to ask God when we see Him."