Priceless….

I nervously stepped up onto the chair and looked out at the sea of young men in the quad outside my dorm.  They looked back at me.  This “slave auction” was an annual charity event at my university.  All the young women participated.The auctioneer shouted, “Let’s start the bidding at $5.00.  Who is going to bid $5.00?  No one?  Come on, men.  Surely somebody will bid $5.00!”  But all there was, was silence.  So the auctioneer lowered the bid.  Yet nobody spoke up.Nobody bid on me.That scenario is real and it happened in 1966 and it happened to me.  What did that do to my self- worth?  It destroyed it.  Oh, yes, I went on outwardly and with confidence, but inside I hurt.  I buried that hurt deep inside and moved forward with my life.However, after discovering my husband’s infidelity after 30 years of marriage, that feeling of worthlessness resurfaced, and it resurfaced with a vengeance.Fortunately, when this occurred I was working here at SHLC – God’s timing is perfect -  and I had the opportunity to travel to California for a workshop called Next Step.  I was sent by our church so I could improve my skills at working with our youth.  Little did I know the powerful effect it would have on me.We were encouraged to share a hurt in our life during the course of the workshop, and I shared my “chair story”.  I barely held myself together as I recounted the event.  Later that day, one of the instructors came to me and whispered in my ear……. “Of course nobody bid on you…..you are priceless!”.   I burst into tears.That  was it!  I am priceless.  I am child of God who sent His only Son to suffer and die for me.  There is no price tag on that!  He did it for me!!  He knows my worth!Deep inside, I already know that.  I had heard it all my life.  So why didn’t I draw on that strength earlier?  I don’t know.  All I know is that God put me in that place at that time when I most needed to not only be reminded of that fact….but to truly acknowledge it and believe it!He suffered and died for you as well!   You, too, are a child of God.  You, too, are priceless!  Never doubt it.  I pray that you will draw on that assurance each and every day, and I pray, that you will share it with others.