Attachment!

Kuniza was a bright-eyed, pretty five-year-old girl. One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Kuniza saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at $2.50.

How she wanted that necklace, and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, “Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money. I’ll tell you what. I’ll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of chore that you can do to pay for the necklace. And don’t forget that for your birthday Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too. Okay?”

Kuniza agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her. Kuniza worked on her chores very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand new dollar bill for her birthday. Soon Kuniza had paid off the pearls.

How Kuniza loved those pearls. She wore them everywhere-to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands. The only time she didn’t wear them was in the shower; her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green.

Now Kuniza had a very loving daddy. When Kuniza went to bed, he would get up from his favourite chair every night and read Kuniza her favourite story. One night when he finished the story, he said, “Kuniza, do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you,” the little girl said.
“Well, then, give me your pearls.”
“Oh! Daddy, not my pearls!” Kuniza said. “But you can have Rosie, my favourite doll. Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday. And you can have her tea party outfit, too. Okay?”
“Oh no, darling, that’s okay.” Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Good night, little one.”

A week later, her father once again asked Kuniza after her story, “Do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you.”
“Well, then, give me your pearls.”
Oh, Daddy, not my pearls! But you can have Ribbons, my toy horse. Do you remember her? She’s my favourite. Her hair is so soft, and you can play with it and braid it and everything. You can have Ribbons if you want her, Daddy,” the little girl said to her father. “No, that’s okay,” her father said and brushed her cheek again with a kiss. “God bless you, little one. Sweet dreams.”

Several days later, when Kuniza’s father came in to read her a story, Kuniza was sitting on her bed and her lip was trembling. “Here, Daddy,” she said, and held out her hand. She opened it and her beloved pearl necklace was inside. She let it slip into her father’s hand. With one hand her father held the plastic pearls and with the other he pulled out of his pocket a blue velvet box. Inside of the box were real, genuine, beautiful pearls. He had them all along. He was waiting for Kuniza to give up the cheap stuff so he could give her the real thing.

The same with our Heavenly Father, He is waiting for us to give up the cheap/fake things in our lives. Are you holding on to harmful relationships, habits, activities which you have become 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 one thing, God will never take away something without giving us something better.