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<PRE>Jenny was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old
girl. One day when she and
her mother were checking out at the grocery
store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl
necklace priced at $2.50. How she wanted that
necklace and when she
asked her mother if she would buy it for her,
her mother said,
"Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an
awful lot of money.
I'll tell you what.
I'll buy you the necklace, and when we get home
we can make up a list of
chores that you can do to pay for the necklace.
And don't forget that for
your birthday Grandma just might give you a
whole dollar bill, too. Okay?"
Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl
necklace for her. Jenny
worked on her chores very hard every day, and
sure enough, her Grandma
gave her a brand new dollar bill for her
birthday. Soon Jenny had paid off
the pearls.
How Jenny loved those pearls. She wore them
everywhere - to kindergarten,
bed, and when she went out with her mother to
run errands. The only time
she didn't wear them was in the shower - her
mother had told her that they
would turn her neck green.
Now Jenny had a very loving daddy. When Jenny
went to bed, he would
get up from his favorite chair every night and
read Jenny her favorite story.
One night when he finished the story, he
said, "Jenny, do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you," the
little girl said.
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!" Jenny said. "But you
can have Rosie, my
favorite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me
last year for my birthday.
And you can have her tea party outfit, too.
Okay?"
"Oh no, darling, that's okay." Her father
brushed her cheek with a
kiss. "Good night, little one."
A week later, her father once again asked Jenny
after her story, "Do you
love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you."
"Well, then, give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have
Ribbons, my toy horse. Do
you remember her? She's my favorite. Her hair is
so soft, and
you can play with it and braid it and
everything. You can have
Ribbons if you want her,
Daddy," the little girl said to her father.
"No, that's okay," her father said and brushed
her cheek again with a
kiss. "God bless you, little one. Sweet
dreams."
Several days later, when Jenny's father came in
to read
her a story, Jenny was sitting on her bed and
her lip was trembling.
"Here, Daddy," she said, and held out her hand.
She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was
inside. She let it
slip into her father's hand. With one hand her
father held the plastic
pearls and with the other he pulled out of his
pocket a blue velvet box.
Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful
pearls. He
had them all along.
He was waiting for Jenny to give up the cheap
stuff so
he could give her the real thing.
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 treasure.
Isn't God good?
Are you holding onto things which God wants you
to let go of?
Are you holding onto harmful or unnecessary
partners, relationships,
habits and activities which you have become 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.</PRE> |
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