I’ve sat in front of more screens in my life-time than is healthy for any human being – from TVs to PCs, and mobile phones to widescreen cinemas. In truth the vast majority of stuff that I watched in that time probably stayed in my conscious memory for about 5 seconds before disappearing forever, having been of absolutely no benefit to me or to humanity as a whole.
However, there was one time that I sat in front of a screen that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was the day I got to meet my little girl, Elen, for the first time. She was just 12 weeks old!
Having never seen a scan before, I was simply not ready for the emotions that surged through my system as the skectchy black and white image of this beautiful little 2 inch person (reclining with her feet up) emerged on the screen. All I could think was: “That’s my kid! It’s waving to us! Look at the size of those biceps! What a MASSIVE head!!” As I sat staring at this screen, eyes and mouth wide open with genuine wonder and amazement, a noise came over the monitor that was just awesome:
“Du-Dum…Du-Dum…Du-Dum…”
My baby’s heart was beating. I was so overwhelmed I cried! Shortly afterwards my wife read that by 6 weeks old, each little baby in the womb has a tiny heart about the size of a poppy seed, that beats on its own.
That’s a miracle!
Like at all good themeparks we got given a polaroid of ‘little dude’ as we left, and as you’d expect, we just couldn’t stop looking at it. The more I looked at this amazing photo and the more I learned about exactly what was happening inside Michelle’s womb, the more I couldn’t escape the power and poignancy of King David’s words in the Bible:
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139v13-14)
This gorgeous little girl, just like every other baby, was being lovingly hand-crafted by God in her mother’s womb. She was was no accident, but was being made in a fearful and wonderful way. She was one of God’s wonderful “works”, created in the image of God (Genesis 1 v 27) for His glory and joy. She therefore possessed inherent dignity and value. I couldn’t escape the immensity of all that was going on. It was beautiful, poetic, even sacred. Even at that early stage of pregnancy I was bound to my little girl with a love that was as powerful as it was mysterious. A love that would only grow stronger with time.
As I started to come to terms with these new emotions, I began to catch just a tiny glimpse of how God must feel about the people that He created and loves.
We are precious in the eyes of God.
That’s a miracle.
Dai Hankey is a church-planting pastor in South Wales and the author of the The Hard Corps soon to be published by The Good Book Company.
Dai Hankey is a church-planting pastor in Cardiff, where he lives with his wife, Michelle, and four young children. He is founder of Red Community, a Christian charity that fights human trafficking in Wales. Dai is a former skateboarder and loves to DJ. He is the author of The Hard Corps, A Man's Greatest Challenge and the Eric Says… series.
