The Value of Children

Have you ever watched "Call of the Midwife?"  It's a BBC production we discovered recently on Netflix.  In Series 2, there is an episode featuring a woman who was expecting a child, already had 8 children and couldn't afford to feed another, then attempted to end the pregnancy at home.  At the same time, the small, poverty-stricken section of Poplar was putting on a baby show.  After this episode - showing the extreme difference between valuing life and trying to end it as if it were nothing, Sister Monica Joan (an older, possibly senile old woman) said something profound.

"When did children become so valuable?  

When did they become precious?"

I immediately think of our children.  I love these little people with all that I am.  I would do anything to ensure their success in friendship, in athletic or artistic endeavors, and in life.  We want our children to succeed, to do well in life. And to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  I want these precious people to be with me throughout this life, and with me in Heaven one day.

 

I like 'em that much!

And yet, in this day and age, there are parents in this world that, though they would love to give their child a leg up, they just can't.  They're living in poverty.



Here in America, our children argue over which Netflix show to watch next, beg for another video game to play on their latest, greatest game system, and complain about having to go to school.  They ask to try out 2 or 3 activities every season that will include fee payment, uniforms, and countless hours of driving and gallons of gas.  And we do it because that's what everyone does for their children, right?

In many other countries, children would be happy to eat once a day, drink fresh water and go to school - their highly prized ticket out of poverty.

On a mission trip to Jamaica years ago, I met some wonderful children who were residential students at the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf.  They were thrilled to have 2 small meals a day, a school uniform, and free school!  In Jamaica, you have to pay to send your child to school.  Therefore, many children go uneducated.  When I visited, there was something around 75% unemployment rate.  These people are not putting their kids in soccer camps or theatre clubs.  They are simply trying to survive.

 Are their children any less valuable?  No way!

God's eye is on the sparrow.  Luke 12:6-7

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

So, whether we are speaking of our children here at home or the less fortunate in other places, they are equally valued by their Creator. 

God created each child with the same tender care, the same meticulous engineering in their design, and has provided the same forgiveness and grace for each one. 

 ^"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"

Psalm 139:13-14

 

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Image of baby in womb borrowed from babydozewombsound.com