FOODFORTHOUGHT

PEARLS
Author Unknown
February 4, 2011

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 them all the
time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so
he could give her genuine treasure.

Jenny's father is like our heavenly Father. He also is waiting for us
to give up our dime store stuff and seek Him first... so He can fling
open the windows of Heaven and pour us out such a blessing that we
will not have room enough to hold it.

What are you hanging on to?

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember, amateurs built the ark.
Professionals built the Titanic.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join our group on Facebook and post your comments on the reflection: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142903436398

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/efoodforthought

Webpage: http://www.dailyfoodforthought.org/
Group Address: http://groups.google.com/group/dailyfoodforthought

GROUP CONTACT:
To subscribe from this group, share a reflection or feedback
on the reflection of the day, send email to: foodforthought2@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe : dailyfoodforthought-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

DISCLAIMER: FoodForThought shared this message as submitted and do not
claim to own any copyright privileges on it. All the messages are
believed to be free for circulation or public domain. All messages come
in either by email in original form or copied from the internet sites.
The work was submitted to us as an item for distribution, and it was
posted solely on the basis of its quality.

© 2011 FoodForThought