Pearls of wisdom

I had this sent to me and wanted to pass it along.

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.

Are you holding onto things that Heavenly Father wants you to let go
of? Are you holding on to harmful 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

Our Heavenly Father will never take away something without giving you something better in
its place.