The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls
was almost five. Waiting with her mother at
the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of
glistening white pearls in a pink foil
box. "Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them?
Please, Mommy,please?"
Quickly the mother checked the back of the
little foil box and then looked back into the
pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned
face. "A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00.
If you really want them, I'll think of some
extra chores for you and in no time you can
save enough money to buy them for yourself.
Your birthday's only a week away and you
might get another crisp dollar bill from
Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her
penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After
dinner, she did more than her share of chores
and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs.
Mc James if she could pick dandelions for ten
cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her
another new dollar bill and at last she had
enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel
dressed up and grown up. She wore them
everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten,
even to bed. The only time she took them off
was when she went swimming or had a bubble
bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might
turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night
when she was ready for bed, he would stop
whatever he was doing and come upstairs to
read her a story. One night as he finished the
story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?" "Oh
yes, daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have
Princess, the white horse from my collection,
and the one with the pink tail. Remember,
daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very
favorite."
"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time,
Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?""Daddy, you know I love you." "Then give me your pearls." "Oh Daddy, not
my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The
brand new one I got for my birthday. She is
beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket
that matches her sleeper." "That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little
one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he
brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in,
Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs
crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he
noticed her chin was trembling and one silent
tear rolled down her cheek. "What is it, Jenny?
What's the matter?" Jenny didn't say anything
but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And
when she opened it, there was her little pearl
necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy, this is for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's
daddy reached out with one hand to take the
dime-store necklace, and with the other hand
he reached into his pocket and pulled out a
blue velvet case with a strand of genuine
pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them
all the time.
He was just waiting for her to give up the
dime-store stuff so he could give her the
genuine treasure. So it is with our Heavenly
Father. He is waiting for us to give up the
cheap things in our lives so that he
can give us beautiful treasures. Isn't God
good? Are you holding onto things that God
wants you to let go of?
Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary
partners, relationships, habits and activities
that you have come so attached to that it
seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so
hard to see what is in the other hand but do
believe this one thing.... God will never take
away something without giving you something
better in its place.
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DeLois Terrell |
