Value

So, not another Gingersnap post.  Sorry.  Maybe I'll vomit out another chapter tonight.  We'll see.  I have something else on my mind that I feel like needs saying first.

A few recent events have prompted me to reflect on value--how much something might mean to us.  How many of us have ever found ourselves checking price tags to see if we'd be willing to pay for something?  I'm certainly positive that I'm not the only one who has ever picked up a/n [insert super cool must-have item here] and said, "This is amazing!  But not [insert its dollar value] amazing."  Example:  These shoes are adorable!  But not $90 adorable.  That's my judgment call.  Someone said that the shoes were worth $90, and I have the option to disagree with that.  Maybe, to me, their value really sits at $20 or so.

We place value on things all the time.  Everyday, in fact.  We complain about the price of gas, the cost to live in our homes, and the ridiculous amount of funds it takes to receive a college education.  Yet most of us pay, because it's that important to us.  If it weren't, we would take our money elsewhere.

But what about things that aren't items or things or places?  Take, for example, my sweet baby Rogue.  She's not really a baby--she's a husky, and a spoiled one at that.  When people come over to my house for the first time, I warn them that there's dog fur everywhere, and that's just the way it is.  Because I value Rogue higher than I value my furniture.  She's my very best little buddy, and, quite honestly, is the only reason I don't stay at work until 8 or 9 every night.  Even though she's constantly spitting out her dog-food into random piles all over the house, I would still value her more than anything else that I own.  Someone else might see her as an irritating dog, and that's all right too.  She is irritating, but it doesn't matter so much to me, because I love her.  She is my everything.

Can we put a value on something like that?  How much is my husky really worth?  $400?  $500?  Maybe $1,000?...  To me, none of those values fit.  I don't think I could put a price on her.

What about people?  What is the value of a person?  Remember those "few events" I mentioned at the beginning of this post?  Well, let's talk about them now.

Three things this week that have retaught me the true value of a person:

• Miss America Pageant
• I didn't watch it this year... or any year since I was 5.  I saw a commercial for it though, and it got me to thinking about the girls who compete in these pageants.  What is their value?  When the winner is crowned, does that mean she's worth more than all of her competitors?  Is she worth more than the pudgy little girl who, while watching the pageant on TV, suddenly values herself less because valuable comes in only one size and one shape?
• Easy for me to say, right?  Other than having to get over the fact that I look like a Disney Princess incarnate, I've never had to struggle through self-image problems.  Seriously, I look like some kind of cartoon, but if I had to judge myself by Miss America standards, I'd say, "Bring it on."  (I'd have to throw my self respect out the window for that whole bikini thing, though.)  That's why I'm not thinking about myself in this case.  I think about my students, 9 and 10 year old boys and girls, who start to think that outward appearance equates with the value of a person.  I've had some of my students, girls particularly, tell me that they want to be like me when they grow up.  It's never because they think I'm smart, kind, responsible, or hard-working.  It's because they want to be skinny.  Why in the world are we teaching kids that a skinny person is more important than a smart, kind, responsible, and hard-working person?
• Let's refocus on those Miss America contestants.  Are they evil for perpetuating this "must be skinny to be worth something" attitude?  Maybe they're evil:  I really couldn't say, because I don't know them personally.  Maybe they're not.  That's not for me to judge.  What I can say, with all certainty, is that these girls have the exact same value as anyone else.  Their value is incomprehensible.  They are worth everything.  Just like that pudgy girl is worth everything.  Just like any person is worth everything.

• Parent Teacher Conferences
• I'm going to let you parents in on a little secret.  Parent-Teacher Conferences are terrifying!  Honestly.  I'm still new at this job, but even some of my seasoned veteran teacher friends still get jittery around conference time.  We're scared of parents!  I realized something interesting this last Thursday, though.  I realized that parents are scared of me!  I saw it in a father's eyes as he brought his son in for their conference.  I could tell that this father was petrified that I would tell him all of the dreadful things a parent hopes not to hear coming from their child's teacher.  I've found that most parents value their children about the same as the universe, times the universe, and still much more.  It's such a humbling thing as a teacher to recognize the importance of the collective class and also of the importance of the single individual.  As tiring as conference time can be, in a way it's rejuvenating in the fact that I'm reminded of the value of my students.  They are worth everything to their parents, so they had better be worth everything to me.  And the students who don't have parents who value them?  It's all the more reason for me to do so.
• What about the students who don't score well on tests?  What about the child who just can't quite read as quickly, or the student who can't remember what "7 * 8" is?  Are they less valuable?  Is the high school graduate or the college graduate more valuable than one who isn't as educated?  Does intelligence reflect the value of a person?  I submit that it does not.  That same father who came in who was afraid of me, both of us were nearly in tears at the end of the conference, because I also saw how brilliant his son is (not could be, is) even though his test scores may not reflect that.  We see the value in this boy.  It's everything.  Just like my kids who consistently score 100% are worth everything.  Just like my kids who scribble on their papers (and think they can get away with calling it a completed assignment) are worth everything.

• The Italian Family
• I'm not going to go into too much detail here, because I don't think service is something that should be bragged about.  I'll just mention that today as I drove into a grocery store parking lot, I found a man begging for money to feed his family.  I see it all the time, and regrettably,  I usually pass by.  I pass by because I don't want to be taken advantage of, and because I'm not wealthy enough to help everyone I see.  But, I felt very strongly, almost like driving into a brick wall, that I needed to turn myself around and go help that man.  When I parked my car next to where he was standing, I saw his family sitting behind him.  A wife, a 9 year old daughter, and a 2 week old baby.  She was beautiful.  Everything they owned was in their car, and it wasn't much.
• As I inquired as to the family's needs, I found out that they were an immigrant Italian family trying to make their way out to California.  They communicated in what little English they knew, and I communicated using what little Italian I know (i.e. Spanish).  In the short time I spent with them this afternoon, I was reminded of how much I really have; a roof over my head and food in my belly.  I have a reliable and enjoyable job and an expansive support system if that job were to fall through.  But that doesn't mean that my life is any more significant than theirs.
• When I offered to help the family in what ways I could, the mother kept saying, "Bless you, bless you.  Jesus love you."  I wish I could have communicated back to her the immense amount of love I knew that our Savior has for her and her family.  I know, without a doubt, that were it not for a loving God who sees this family being worth everything, I would not have stopped to help them.  Were it not for a loving Heavenly Father who slapped me (metaphorically) in the face and told me to turn my car around, I would have assigned them about the same value as any other sign I pass on my way to the grocery store.

The value of a person can't be described or explained, and that value is consistent regardless of outward appearance, intelligence, or wealth.  Talent doesn't make a person more important, and mistakes don't suddenly make a them less important.  And, for me, the only titles of true value in this world are mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, etc. those titles we give to our family members.

A twenty dollar bill is worth $20 whether it's new and crisp and clean, or whether it's been through the laundry a few times and then dragged through a muddy parking lot.  I know, especially after today's reminder, that there is a God who loves His children and who is always aware of them.  As broken, torn, and muddy as we may feel at times, He can't forget a single one of us, because we (collectively and individually) are His everything.