Pearls

The cheerful girl 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-
church 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 forbed,
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.

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.
What are you hanging on to?

Author unknown to me

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