Monday, December 14, 2009

Treasured Pearls

A friend sent me the following story in an email, and I didn't know ALL of your email addresses, but wanted to share it with each and every one of you. So here goes...

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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 mommy 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 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 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.God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.

17 comments:

  1. Erica, that's beautiful! It made me cry, which is not always easy to do. : )

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  2. I love this story and it is so true. We hold on to our "treasures" not realizing that He holds the greatest treasure there is.

    Thank you for sharing and reminding me.

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  3. Oh Erica...wonderful! How come we hold on SO tightly to things we think we can't live without? If only we were willing to give up things that don't mean anything in the light of eternity to recieve all that God has for us...things moth and rust can't destory.

    Thanks so much for sharing.

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  4. Thank You so much for this! Happy Monday!

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  5. Beautiful...


    Blessings and prayers,
    andrea

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  6. Ok, that brought tears. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Oh this just brought me to tears of just how much love this father showed for his beautiful daughter and just how much she loved him to finally give them up!

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

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  8. Just like our Heavenly Father. He longs for us to give up what we work so hard for ourselves so that He can give us what He worked so hard for us to have, exchanging the love of our efforts for the love of His. Which by far outvalues anything we could provide for ourselves. I couldn't help but read this story through tearing eyes! God is so good!

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  9. Beautiful analogy, Erica. What a sweet story! There is so much that the Lord has for us, and yet so often we long for something "cheap" and "tarnished" instead of what's real and will last. We just have to see it through his eyes instead of our own.

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  10. I absolutely love this. Oh how sweet it is too completely trust our Heavenly Father to have our best interest at heart & to give us the very best when He knows our heart is sincere. Loved this.

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  11. Erica, that was so beautiful! Thank you for sharing with all of us. Also, thank you for visiting my blog last week.

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  12. What a wonderful story! I loved it and now need a tissue *sniff*sniff*

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  13. That is absolutely beautiful! :D Where is the tissue?

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  14. I read this story somewhere years ago. It is still as beautiful and meaningful today. Thanks for sharing it.
    Jen

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