i'm a TREASURE

last night, Marian Jordan came to speak at Girls' Night Out at Winthrop. i went just to be with friends, thinking that God was gonna just talk to the girls in relationships. i've never been in a relationship, but i've been taught a whole lot about them and i felt like i didn't need to go but i figured i would because everyone else was going and i had nothing better to be doing.

so i get there and she starts talking. she talks about basically everything that every girl struggles with at some point in life. when she was describing herself as an ackward middle schooler with frizzy hair and taller than everyone else in the school, i felt like she was describing me. i still have days where i doubt myself and i put myself down all the time. my self-confidence level is usually in the negatives, but it shouldn't be that way because i am a TREASURE to God. my Father has come to save me and He honestly doesn't care that i've spent so much time running away from Him and trying to do things on my own, He just wants a relationship with me. He DESIRES ME AT WHATEVER COST NECESSARY. it just so happens that that cost had to be His Son. He watched His Son be beaten viciously and mercilessly and He let it happen because He wants me.

i've never seen the move 'Taken' but i want to after Marian used it as an example. after warning 'spoiler alert', she explained that the movie is about this girl who is kidnapped and her father won't stop until he finds her. he kills men to get to her and risks his own life many times. when he finally finds her on a boat, she can hear the guard outside the door say, "its the girl's father and he wants her back." when she sees him, she says, "you came for me?" like she couldn't believe it or didn't deserve it. the whole time she was describing this movie, i was picturing my relationship with God and it almost brought me to tears. i don't deserve Him or His love, but He wouldn't stop until He rescued me. i was taken by my own sinful desires, trapped with no way out on my own. i asked Him last night "You came for me?" i could hardly believe it. i don't deserve it. the cost was too big, but He payed anyway.

one of my favorite words is 'redemption.' because someone explained it to me this way once:
redemption: "released on receipt of a ransom"
so what this means is this: picture a girl being kidnapped and the kidnappers call her father and tell him that he has to pay a million dollars to get her back. he does. and he gets her back. the price was huge, but he was willing to pay ANYTHING to get his daughter back.

so when i have those days when i tell myself i'm not worth anything or i'm not pretty or not good enough for anyone, i can remember this: i am a TREASURE in the sight of my Father and not even a million sins can change that.