“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 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 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. McJames 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,
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 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 quiver she finally said, “Here, daddy.
This is for you.”
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s daddy reached out
with one have to take the dime-store necklace, and with the
other hand 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 her 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.
