GOD LOVES US

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  coun ted 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 tremb ling 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.

Isn’t God good? Are! you holding onto things that God  wants you to let go of? Are you holding on to harmful or  unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have  come 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.