THE MILLION-DOLLAR BABY

 

I was thinking this morning... Years ago, my brother told me a story about how he and some colleagues went to visit their wealthy boss whose wife had just delivered after many years of waiting. They had spent millions of naira on IVF in Nigeria and abroad. After countless disappointments, she finally conceived and gave birth to a bouncing baby boy in America.

When mother and child returned home, friends and well-wishers trooped in to celebrate with them. The baby was brought out for everyone to admire. As the greetings continued, one of the visitors stretched out his hands to carry the baby. Instantly, the proud father quipped, "Don't touch my million-dollar baby!" Everybody laughed, but everyone also understood what he meant. That child was priceless because of the journey that brought him into the world.

Unless you have waited endlessly for the fruit of the womb, it is difficult to understand the silent tears many couples shed. Some spend fortunes on IVF. Others travel across continents. Some become victims of fake prophets, herbalists and scammers who prey on their desperation. The desire to hear one voice call you "Daddy" or "Mummy" can make people attempt almost anything.

Yet life has an interesting irony. For some people, pregnancy comes almost effortlessly. For others, it costs millions. But the destiny of a child has never been determined by the price paid to have that child. The so-called "million-dollar baby" is probably over twenty years old today, but his worth is no less and no more than the child born naturally in a village clinic or the baby delivered in a government hospital for almost nothing.

Every child carries the same divine fingerprint. Perhaps that is God's way of reminding us that while money may influence how a child comes into our lives, it can never determine who that child will become.

Never measure human value by the cost of acquisition. Every child is a gift from God, not a product with a price tag. Pikin no be designer cloth; whether na for boutique or market you buy am, na the person wey wear am dey give am value. Psalm 127:3 says "Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him."

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey