Last week, my husband and I braved the cold and shopping mobs and hit the stores at 4 a.m. the Friday after Thanksgiving. We’ve never done that before (and we probably never will again), but since we were in town this year, and our son was staying overnight with Grammy, we decided, “why not?”

We didn’t have a lot on our list. Our most important task was hitting Toys ‘R Us and taking advantage of their big sale on Ben-10 action figures. For those of you not lucky enough to have little boys, this is a popular cartoon that our son loves. This year he asked for “Grey Matter.” Apparently, this little guy isn’t a major character on the show but that’s what our son asked Santa for, and of course, that’s what we were going to get, along with the other action figures in the series so he can have fun playing with all of them.

Well, we found all the other characters. Except the one we really wanted. We hit three other stores that morning and none of them had it. After we got home, I pulled out my laptop. Nothing. The little guy had vanished. The only place I could find him was on Amazon, for a crazy amount of money. Well, I googled and googled and finally, after beginning to think that this was the equivalent of searching for the treasure in an Indiana Jones movie, I found an obscure online toy shop in Michigan that had the toy (at a much more reasonable price). Feeling quite proud of myself that I had done my motherly duty and found the toy of my child’s desire without breaking our budget, I hit that “check out” button and sighed with accomplishment. That feeling lasted a couple of days… until I got the email from the toy shop letting me know that they didn’t actually have the toy in stock. The manufacturer had stopped making it. The toy our little boy had his heart set on was now, gulp, a Collector’s Item.

My husband and I went back and forth. Do we get it? Do we not? Does Santa leave a raincheck? We checked ebay auctions. Same price as the amazon price. This toy is a hot commodity! But what parent wants to disappoint their child on Christmas morning? Wishing we’d convinced our son to put a Nintendo Wii game in his letter to Santa instead of an 8-inch action figure (which would have been the same price as what we ended up paying for this little toy!), I ordered this “rare” toy. It arrived yesterday, in its brand new package, never opened, just waiting to put a smile on our son’s face when he finds it under the tree.

I got to thinking about how this toy will go next to all of the other action figures that we paid so little for, and yet, if you look at them, they all look the same. Only my husband and I will know the real value of that “special” gift. (And fight the urge to keep it in a box, high up on a shelf!)

I believe God looks at each of us the same way. There is only one of me. There is only one of you. Someone may share the same name, the same hair color, maybe the same parents – but each of us is unique to our Creator. He will not make an exact copy of any of us ever again. We are all Collector’s Items. We all have significant, incredible value to Him – so much, that He paid the ultimate price for all of us by putting His Son on the Cross.

It is easy to fall in the trap of comparison this time of year. We compete on what we do for decorations around the house, the presents we give our kids, the presents we give our friends. But there is no comparison when it comes to you. You are one of a kind. And God loves you, just the way you are.

If you’re a military wife going through a deployment, you may be struggling with feeling any value at all right now – you’re so worried and focused on your husband who’s away; making sure your children have a wonderful Christmas despite missing their father.

Can I encourage you today that you are loved? You are treasured? That you have a Heavenly Father who is with you today? Youa re one-of-a-kind. And you are very loved.

But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the
One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve
called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with
you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a
rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end— Because I am God, your personal
God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt,
with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how
much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the
creation just for you. – Isaiah 43:1 (The Message)

No related posts.