The past little while we have been working with our five year old to overcome a certain nocturnal tendency. Everytime the predetermined goal is achieved she is rewarded with a quarter. The best way to motivate children is to provide them with rewards that appeal to them. In Annmarie's eyes a quarter is deemed of great "value." One morning, on a planned trip to Walmart, Annmarie excitedly reminds me of the $0.50 she has earned and yet been rewarded. Visions of the large, circular dispensing gum ball machine began to dance in her head. Immediately on entering the store she begins to ask for her quarters. I find my change pocket to be pretty slim and only containing a dollar bill. More pleading as the target has reached the scope of a five year old eyes. I patiently explain that I do not have two quarters, but perhaps she can wait until we are done and then we can get some quarters. That won't do. We NEED those quarters now. I try to make a deal. (I know, firm up there mom!) The tactic: How about you have a dollar and then you can buy a much better candy bar and it would be much bigger than a gum ball? Hmmm... The kid is making a profit here on my lack to stockpile the bank in the right kind of buck. Nope, it must be the gum balls. On not giving up some of my stance I again repeat she will have to then be patient and wait until we are finished. Annmarie decides she will wait. We then proceed to do our shopping, get change for a dollar (in quarters), and two of the quarters are given to the patient recipient. She proudly goes to the machine and gets one gumball and then a second. Proudly she hands over the second gumball to her little two year old sister. On seeing this I am struck with what this all means. The word value come to my mind.
To a five year old great value is placed in things like gumballs. As an adult I think we often consider how much profit that gumball machine is racking up and what kind of deal we are getting. We see that a $1 bill has greater "value" than 2 quarters. It reminds me a lot of Shel Silverstein's poem "Smart." What kind of things are gumballs to us? But this experience happened the week before the semiannual LDS General Conference. This experience was again brought to my mind as I listened to the prophet of God, apostles and other leaders of the LDS faith inspire, uplift and give instruction to each of us in a time where many in the world are sending mixed signals of worth and again, value. Here are some of the things that were said that come to mind:
"You are precious beyond measure."1
"The Lord uses a scale very different from the world’s to weigh the worth of a soul."
"No matter where you live, no matter how humble your circumstances, how meager your employment, how limited your abilities, how ordinary your appearance, ... you are not invisible to your Heavenly Father. He loves you. He knows your humble heart and your acts of love and kindness."
"He knows you. He loves you with a perfect love. God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season—He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him."2
As I pondered more on this and what "value" really means after seeing my five year old share with her little sister I think I had a small glimpse into the heavens. Our loving Father in Heaven wants us to be happy. He guides us daily. He sends the guidance of the Holy Spirit and, sends others, our angels on earth, to bind up the broken-hearted, and to strengthen and brighten our days. He has provided us with a prophet and apostles today (Hallelujah!) that lift us up as we listen to their guidance. He has created such a marvelous world of beauty for us to just marvel at, nonetheless dwell upon. And sometimes we just want the cool, dispensed gumballs. BUT, sometimes the value may be just okay as long as we share with our fellow brothers and sisters. Sometimes we have to realize that a five year old may know a little bit more about value then we think we do.
Thank you for being my angels on earth and for all your loving, kind, and thoughtful words and deeds. May your Christmas season be filled with lots of gumballs to share. I cannot close this message without thanking my own big brother, even my Savior, Jesus Christ, for all the gumballs he has blessed me with. He is the ultimate example of the meek and humble way to give.
Love to you all!
Candace
1 Elder Boyd K. Packer, Counsel to Youth
2 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, You Matter to Him
1 comment:
What a beautiful post. Thanks so much for sharing!
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