Little Girl's Pearls

I read a story when I was younger (maybe ten/eleven years old) and to this day it's stuck with me. It reminds us of a very important lesson that we often forget. I call the story Little Girl's Pearls.

There once was a little girl who had a string of plastic pearls. She loved her pearls more than anything in the world! They made her feel like a big girl and they looked just like Mommy's! Every night before she went to bed she'd put on her PJ's and her pearls, her father would come in, they'd say a prayer together and then he'd tuck her in and turn out the lights. One night, as her father tucked her into bed, he asked her, "My daughter, how much do you love me?"
"Whole biggest bunches!" She replied.
"Do you trust me?" He asked her.
"Yes." She answered.
"If that's so, may I have your pearls?" He asked.
The little girl clutched her pearls tightly. "I love you but I don't want to give up my pearls Daddy!" Seeing the fear in the little girls eyes he kissed her forhead good-night.
"You don't have to give them to me. Good night and sweet dreams. I love you." He told her.

The next night at bedtime the father came in to tuck his daughter in and once more asked her "My daughter, how much do you love me?"
And again she replied, "Whole biggest bunches!"
"Do you trust me?" He asked.
And again she said, "Yes."
Once more he asked, "If that's so, may I have your pearls?"
And just as before the little girl clutched her pearls tightly. "I love you but I don't want to give up my pearls Daddy!"
Seeing the fear in his little girl's eyes, and a sad look of his own, he bent to kiss her forehead gently. "Good night and sweet dreams. I love you." He told her and turned to go.

The third night he entered his daugthter's room the little girl was sitting on her bed. Her face was streamed with tears and as he approached her bed she held out her little hand. In it, were her precious pearls.
The little girl looked up at her father and said, "Daddy, last night you were sad. Please don't be sad. I love my pearls, but if you need them you can have them." He took the pearls from the little girls hand, hugging her tightly. Tears continued to run down the little girls cheeks as he tucked her in and kissed her good night.
He kissed her and said simply, "I love you."

As the little girl began to get ready for bed on the following night, she noticed something on her bed. Walking over, she picked it up. It was the string of pearls she had so admired. Real ones! Exactly like her Momma wore!

The moral of the story? Sometimes you gotta give up something in order to gain something better. Sometimes you just have to have faith that you're doing the right thing and that things will work out.