“She Is So Beautiful”

We have known her name for a long time, since I was pregnant with Charlie. We had already chosen the name Charlie if the baby I was carrying was to be a boy, but we didn’t have a name for a girl. I remember being at the beach in South Carolina when I came across the name Olivia. Mike and I had talked about a lot of girl names, but we couldn’t agree on one. So when I was going to share with him the name Olivia I didn’t really think that he would like the name much. But I was wrong, he loved it! Around this time, God placed strongly on Mike’s heart that we needed to pray for our daughter. So we kind of thought that we were having a girl. I was honestly quite shocked when we found out that the baby I was carrying was a boy. The shock was a bit evident to the point that I received a phone call from someone letting me know of a rumor going around that I was disappointed. Ouch, that was not fun. Was I shocked to find out we were having a boy? Yes. Did finding out I was having a boy make me love him any less? No! Let me tell you that when I delivered Charlie, I looked into that little boys eyes and completely fell in love with him, and I imperfectly understood God’s love like never before desiring to bring him up knowing that he is a very loved child.

Fast forward two years later, we are again expecting another child. At the time we didn’t know the gender of the baby but when I showed Mike the first ultrasound picture at about 12 weeks, he immediately says “it looks like a girl!” Sure enough it is a she. Then again last week at 25 weeks, Mike sees another ultra sound picture and says “she is so beautiful!” Her daddy saw her and called her beautiful as she was forming right in her mommy’s womb. He actually asked me to drive home that day so he could stare at the ultrasound picture. Seriously when she arrives, I don’t think Mike is going to ever put her down. She will know her daddy’s voice because he calls her by name, and she will probably look at him with eyes that say I adore you because of the love her daddy has for her. Olivia.  The one who was named about 3 years ago, yet already carries the meaning of her name.  Peace.

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!”  But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.”  And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.  And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Luke 8:43-48

Something interesting to notice about this passage is that this woman was probably an outcast since she was bleeding, and in those days it was seen as unclean when a women was menstruating and she would have to stay away from others.  Another thing to note is that she had been bleeding for 12 years. So based on culture, it is probable that she has been an outcast all that time.  She spent all of her money on doctors who could not help her in hopes that she may be healed so she wouldn’t be unclean anymore.  Imagine how she felt.  No one could help her, and she was expected to stay away from others since she was “unclean”.  But she takes a risk because she hears that this man is a Healer. When she touches the robe of Jesus she is healed, and he stops what He is doing in a crowd of people who probably wouldn’t be to happy to have her there since she is unclean, and He calls her daughter.

Maybe you feel unloved, and that there is no way that God could possibly love you. You feel like an outcast.  Like I was rumored to be disappointed in having a boy when I was pregnant with Charlie, maybe you feel that God is disappointed in how you turned out to be. Maybe you feel like a mistake.

Dear beautiful one, the beauty of God is that He sees you and knew you long before you were even a thought in your parent’s minds. He placed it on my husband’s heart to pray for our daughter when we were pregnant with our son! He couldn’t love you more, as His love is perfect.  He is not surprised by our personalities, our genders, the color of our hair, or the color of our skin. In fact that was all a part of His design. He knows you. He has known you all this time. He looks at you and desires for you to know that you are loved by Him. A perfect Daddy, and you who He calls daughter. He is not too busy for you.  He desires for you to love Him in return and to adore Him for who He is. You are precious in His eyes. He wants you to know His voice and to follow Him. He wants you to know that He never wants to let you go, and that He sent His only son Jesus from heaven to earth to be born in a stable, walk as one of us, die on a cross, and rise again from the dead so you could believe in the One who loves you ever so dearly and doesn’t want to live without you. Reach out to Him.  Touch His robe.  Feel His love.