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The cheerful 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.
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
when 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
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 so 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. It's for you." With tears
gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind 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 had them all the time. He was
just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so
he could give her genuine treasure--so like our heavenly
Father.
Wonder what we're hanging onto
..... - Unknown
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