The Pearl Necklace

I wanted to share some of the spiritual insight that I gained at EFY that I mentioned in my last post. I won't get into too much detail, since it is pretty personal. But I hope that maybe this can also touch someone else the way it touched me.

As I've done every week thus far, I went into the week with questions that I wanted answered and I have definitely been getting some answers. It's been great. But this week, Brother Chidester (our session director) challenged the counselors in our fireside Sunday night to write down our questions. So I did. In generic terms, the questions were about what to do with my life, with dating, and with certain relationships. I gained insight and revelation throughout the week about them. But Thursday night is when it really hit me and I felt like the heavens opened for me in regards to a few of my questions.

Thursday is the extra spiritual day at EFY. We're all in our church clothes and have young men and young women activities. This year, we get to go over The Living Christ in our counselor groups, as well as having a separate YM/YW morningside devotionals by the session directors. There's lunch and then a variety show, but the evening is when it gets really spiritual. There is a wonderful musical program and then a session director fireside and then company testimony meetings. I loved hearing Brother Chidester throughout the week, but as he spoke at that fireside, he changed slightly and his message seemed to be much more powerful and more much forceful. And what he said hit me really hard. He talked the story about the woman in Mark 5 being healed of the issue of blood. He talked about how Christ is the only one who can heal us, and we all need to be healed. As he said that, I realized how much pain I'm still carrying in regards to certain issues and I how need to accept that Christ can and will heal me if I let Him. I was definitely touched by that, but he then shared a story that I'd like to share, as it also touched me deeply. I had heard the story before, but I think I was more open to it as I was searching for some answers.

(Ok. I tried writing it in my own words, but it wasn't super powerful. I copied and pasted it from here. I don't know how powerful it is even with this, but I know it's better than me trying to tell it. Hope that's ok. I know it may be a bit cheesy to some, but I hope you can get something out of it if you read it in the right spirit.)

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.

As Brother Chidester spoke, I knew exactly what my dime-store necklaces were. As recorded in my journal from that night, a couple of my necklaces are fear of what it will take and fear that my pain can't be healed. Another necklace is made up of my personal plans and what I think should be happening in my life. But these things are SO hard for me to give up. I like my plan. I still want to do my plan. And the fear is also hard to give up. I feel in control with it (which sounds contradictory, but humans don't always make sense). And I'm afraid there will be even more fear if I give up my necklaces. But why wouldn't I give up those plans and stop worrying, if I know that there are genuine pearls still waiting?

What was interesting, as I woke up on Friday, I had ANOTHER insight to a dime-store necklace in my life. And I think that was the hardest one to accept. I don't really have to change anything to give it up. It's just acceptance. However, acceptance can be incredibly hard. But I know that if I can give up this necklace, then great things are in store. But as I hold on to the cheap necklace, I can't accept the great things that are coming. It's hard.

I'm sorry this is vague in regards to what my personal take-away was. But it is kind of personal and I am still trying to figure out where to go from here. But I encourage you to think about your own dime-store necklaces. What's holding you back?