May
9
2018
Priceless
Posted in Daily Living 4 Comments
It was the night of a special banquet.
This annual banquet supports our local crisis pregnancy center.
It is an amazing night to celebrate life.
It is an amazing night to remember the Giver of life and all His good gifts.
Even though I have been at the banquet before, this year was a bit different.
This year, my husband and I were invited to sit at our daughter’s table.
This daughter is expecting our first grandbaby.
This daughter is one the board members of this crisis pregnancy center.
It was an honor to be there.
It was an honor to sit at the table with my daughter and her husband.
My oldest daughter was also there along with the parents of my son-in-love.
There were four empty seats at the table and I wondered who would sit there.
My husband did a quick count, telling me there were about 30 tables with 10 at each table.
The banquet room was filled.
The joy was palpable.
Everyone enjoyed talking before we sat down for dinner.
I actually felt a bit sorry for the waiters and waitresses since there were so many people.
When dinner was served, they served the meal with grace and efficiency.
I was impressed with how quickly everyone was served.
There is something so sweet about meal fellowship.
Two of the empty seats were taken by a woman who is on staff and her husband.
This precious woman teaches classes for the young moms and dads at the pregnancy center.
Support, encouragement, and lots of love is given from the moment a woman walks in the door.
They are more than clients who come in looking for help; they are image bearers of our God.
I looked up and saw a very young couple with a nine-month-old little boy.
They were such a sweet family.
The father was holding the little boy.
The mother was quiet but pleasant.
The woman, who is on staff at the pregnancy center, already knew them and put them at ease.
The little boy knew the woman as well and was quite comfortable on her lap.
The little boy was so happy and kept himself entertained all evening.
A spoon became a drumstick; faces were intriguing to him.
My son-in-love’s father sat next to the young father and the little boy.
The little boy was fascinated with him, his voice, and his facial expressions.
You could not help but look at this little boy and smile.
Joy just seemed to exude from him.
The head of the board spoke, followed by the doctor who gives his time to the center.
The doctor spoke eloquently about why he does what he does.
He is available to the staff for any medical questions or issues that might arise.
He knows the importance of informing the woman so she can make life affirming choices.
Seated at the doctor’s table was another doctor, a radiologist.
When a young woman comes into the center, she is often alone and afraid.
The pregnancy center is also where the young woman can have an ultrasound.
She sees that her baby is indeed a baby; which, helps her make those life affirming choices.
An ultrasound machine is only effective if the ultrasound can be read.
That is where the radiologist comes in.
We all were able to view an ultrasound at the banquet.
The doctor had a laser pointer and was able to show us, the spine, the arms, and the legs.
We were able to see the baby sucking his thumb.
We were able to see the baby give his mother a swift kick.
We were able to see the baby smiling.
We were able to see the baby’s beating heart.
The doctor asked us when the heart of an unborn baby starts beating.
Many called out answers that were incorrect.
He told us the heart of an unborn baby begins to beat 21 days after conception.
That heartbeat, so early in the pregnancy, can only be detected with an ultrasound.
There was no denying that the rhythmic beats were were seeing was the baby’s heart.
I looked at the large screen and marveled.
I looked back at the sweet little boy at our table.
That is was he looked like in his mother’s womb just nine months ago.
The director of the pregnancy center got up to speak.
In her beautiful accent, she spoke about the theme of the evening.
She told us about a mirror in her hotel room when her family was on vacation.
She talked about looking so good every time she passed the mirror.
She made us laugh when she spoke about looking so much thinner in the mirror than in real life.
One day, she realized that there was a problem with the back of the mirror.
The mirror was giving a distorted view.
Even though it made her look good, it was a false picture; it was a lie.
So many young women are being told lies.
They are being told that what they are carrying in their womb is just a glob of tissue.
They are being told that what they are carrying is not a baby.
They are being told that person-hood happens much later.
On the table, at each place, there was a small hand mirror.
The director asked us to pick the mirror up in our hands.
The director asked us to look at ourselves in the mirror.
I want you to repeat after me, she said.
I am priceless.
Go ahead, say it: I am priceless.
A bit louder, please: I AM PRICELESS.
I could hear three hundred voices speaking to their reflection as they looked in the mirror.
Now I want to ask you a question, she continued.
Did you feel comfortable saying those words to yourself?
I could see people squirming in their seats.
I could hear people answering, NO!
The mirror you are holding is not distorted, she reminded us.
The mirror shows you the person that God sees.
The mirror reminds you that you are priceless to Him.
Priceless; I want you to say that to yourself every day, she challenged.
I held the mirror in my hand.
As I held it in front of me, I could see the young couple and their baby behind me.
The director introduced them and invited them up on stage.
They were so young; they had been so afraid; many did not support their decision for life.
When they walked through the doors of the crisis pregnancy center, they were loved.
They were met by loving hearts who love God first and love others well.
They were supported, taught, encouraged, and affirmed in their choice to have their baby.
They were under-girded as many walked alongside them through the pregnancy.
Many continue to walk alongside them.
There are many they can count on for support and love.
It is not always easy.
However, we serve a Creator God who considers His image bearers, priceless.
I tucked two mirrors in my purse: one mirror was mine and one was my husband’s.
I wondered how many of us will take the director’s message to heart.
How many of us will look in the mirror and tell ourselves: I am priceless.
How many of us will actually believe those words?
In Christ, they are not just words.
We are all created, knitted in our mother’s womb; we are made in God’s image.
We are God’s masterpieces.
We are priceless to Him and should be priceless to each other.
What if we said those words to each other?
Take a look in the mirror and say those words to yourself and really believe them.
YOU ARE PRICELESS.
Can you imagine how wonderful it would be if we saw ourselves and others as God sees us?
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:13,14)
Thanks dear Gina for sharing with others how priceless we all are! I pray that this true message will be spread all over Chester County. I pray the message will be believed and shared with passion and love.
Myriam,
God used you greatly as you shared that message with us.
You and I have the same prayer, that each person will know that they are deeply loved by God. We are His priceless masterpieces.
Gina
A beautiful summary of a beautiful evening spent together with many PRICELESS evidences of God’s beautiful work…his created image bearers! Much thought, hard work and prayer put into a delightful evening that honored our great Creator and LIFE!! Gina, thank you for capturing so well a wonderful event where all the attenders and participants were like minded in supporting something as beautiful as God given LIFE!
~Carolyn Hunt~
Carolyn,
It was a very special evening, indeed.
Life was celebrated.
God was glorified.
Gina