The Pearl Necklace

The Pearl Necklace Story

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 babydoll. 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.
What are you hanging on to?
--- Author Unknown

Daily Treasures Review

What do you think about when you see or hear the word "treasure"?  If you look at the definition of the word treasure it is something that you accumulate and store up.  It is also something that is hoarded.  Do you realize that you have that treasure?  Well you do!

Lorrie said four things in her audio "Daily Treasures" that definitely struck a chord in regards to our treasures.

1. Sometimes we have a treasure but we don’t recognize it as treasure.

2. Sometimes we have a treasure, forget about the treasure and then it’s lost treasure.

3. A lot of times there is something keeping us from enjoying our treasure, typically ourselves.

4. A lot of times we hate or resent our treasure, instead of treasuring our treasure.

So what is our treasure?  It is our children.  It doesn't matter if you have 1, 4, 7, or 20.  They are our treasures.  They were given to us by our Heavenly Father.  

Now I know it's not easy being a mom.  I currently have 3 children, soon to be 4.  And believe me, there are days that I just want to go in my room and cry.  It's not easy being a mom.  But something else that Lorrie said really hit me.  My feelings toward my treasures (children) is totally dependent on ME.  I set the attitude in my home.   However, I don't think I realized that till recently.

Our children are changing every minute of the day.  Each child also changes at a different rate than the other.  One might grow bigger sooner, one may talk later than the others, while one may crawl at 4 months it takes another 9 months to crawl.  I have seen it in each of my 3 boys and I am sure I will see it with our daughter.

Do we take the time to cherish our children?  Each little thing is unique.  From what they say to what they do.  Lorrie offers some great suggestions on how to savor and keep each of these little moments.  I really appreciated her suggestions and plan on implementing some of them into our family.  From pictures, doing hand-prints, to journaling the funny and cute things they say.  Those are just a few of the suggestions.  

Then Lorrie really got my attention.  She told the story of the little girl and her pearls.  Now if you haven't heard this story, I highly recommend it.  It took me back to a time when my mom would tell me the story as a little girl.  This is the part where I started to tear up.  It made me realize that I had been holding onto things that weren't really my treasures.  It really makes you think about what is most important in life.

I think that we place so much value on material things that we forget that those won't be with us always.  It's the relationships we build with our children.  The little things they do, whether it's the attempt at making breakfast or the painting that wound up all over the table, walls and floor, or when they come up, give you the biggest hug in the world and say "I love you mom".  It is all worth it.    

Thank you Lorrie for your gentle but yet important reminders of what we should really value.

Daily Treasures is available on CD and in MP3 format at the Eternal Encouragement store.  (MP3 $6.97 - CD $9.97)  It is about an hour long and I highly recommend it to any mom!

** I was given this product in exchange for my honest review of the product and was not compensated in any other way.