Jenny's Pearl Necklace
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. 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 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 piggy bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores. She went to the neighbor, Mrs. McJames, and asked 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 had told her that 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 may I have 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 will you 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, Honey. 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. 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 prized necklace. With the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case. He handed the handsome velvet case to Jenny and told her, "Thank you for giving me your most prized possesion that you even saved for all by yourself. Here Honey, I have this for you also. I wanted to trade you, but I was going to give these to you tonight either way."
As Jenny pryed open the blue velvet box, so nice a thing itself she'd never known, the glistening white sheen of the rich genuine pearls struck her teary eyes.
All of that said to say this; imagine yourself as Jenny and God as Jenny's dad. To show we love God, sometimes we have to open up our hand and let something go--only for God to place His best in our possession. Tonight after spending time with some Godsent friends of mine I realized that God is calling me to let something go. To be honest, God is calling me to let go of a crush (Yes, I am still a silly little girl with a crush). It dawned on me on the ride home tonight. Earlier today I read part of Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge that showed me more about the role of woman. In Genesis, Eve is referred to in Hebew as the ezer kenegdo which has been translated to mean "helper" or "companion" or "help meet"-whatever that's supposed to mean. But what John and Stasi emphasize is that further studies of the word ezer have shown that it is only used twenty other times in the Bible, each time referring to the lifesaving power of God that we are desperate for. While ezer means desperately needed help, kenegdo is translated as alongside, opposite, or counterpart. So, what I got from this is that woman's role is to encourage and give the man in her life the help that he desperately needs to grow in Christ. Tonight it struck me that I could not be this for my said crush (not because I'm not a woman of God or that I'm not good enough, but because we are at two different places in our lives and in our walks with Christ). He deserves an ezer kenegdo, a woman who is uniquely capable of helping him grow daily in his walk with Christ. So my prayer tonight is that God continues to reveal His divine vision for me daily and that my ex-crush will be blessed with an amazing woman who can serve him and help him be the amazing man of God that I know he is capable of being. It's definitely going to be a challenge to give that up, but sometimes you just have to let go of the pearls. With that, I'm out like the lights, b/c I'm up way too late.
