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| Abby |
The
other day I was shopping with Abby and Will at Target. Abby wanted to pick out some Christmas
wrapping paper on this particular day since it was getting close to
Christmas. There were several aisles of wrapping
paper and it was a little confusing when looking at all the patterns and
designs. I thought it best at that point
to let Abby make the choice as to which one to get. Will and I were not as interested at the time
when choosing as Abby seemed to be. For
her, it was an adventure.
When
it came time to choose, Abby brought me a beautiful tube of glittering gold
wrapping paper. I was impressed with her
choice, that is, until I looked at the price.
There was little paper on the roll at a rather high cost. At that point my interest was sparked and we
discussed the options, and then we started to see if there were any others that
were cheaper and had more paper for about the same price. After looking for several more minutes, Abby brought
to me a roll of paper that held three times the amount as the previous roll
that she showed me, all for about the same price. We settled on this roll, which gave me a
chance to speak with them about people and wrapping paper.
I
asked Abby if she liked the wrapping paper that we picked out and she said that
she did. I mentioned to her that her
first choice was awesome and that the paper was very beautiful. Abby responded by saying, “But daddy, it was
too expensive and this will do fine.”
This led me into telling them that people are a lot like wrapping
paper. Both looked at me rather
quizzically as if to think out loud, “Perhaps daddy spent too much time in the
wrapping paper aisle?”
Clearing
my throat, I started to say that people are much the same as the paper we just
saw. There are some individuals that are
like the beautiful paper that we first looked at. They have a lot of surface beauty on the
outside, but they don’t have much substance.
About that time both children glanced over at me with questioning looks
that told me that I needed to explain things in more depth.
Repeating
my earlier statement to them about substance and beauty, I continued to say, “Some
people strive for outward beauty while their lives are filled with their own
wants, and they have little time for people in their lives, other than to meet
their own needs. People outside their
world do not hold value in their estimation.”
I could tell at this point that I had sparked their curiosity so I
continued.
“You
see kids, these individuals many times are catered to by the world because of
their outward beauty, much like movie stars and the like. Some of them are handed much and give little
in return. On the other hand, there are
some who have rather average appearances on the outside, much like the paper
that we decided on, and they surprise us with a lot of substance, and they ask
for little in return.”
“What
do you mean daddy, are you saying that I shouldn’t try to look pretty?” I looked over at Abby and said, “No
sweetheart, it is good to look pretty, but strive to have a beautiful and
caring heart as well.”
“You
see kids, just like the plain paper that we bought, it will be thrown away or put
into the fireplace after we have opened the presents. The paper only covered that which was of real
value, and that was under the wrapping paper.
The real treasure was not in the paper.
That does not hold any value; it is that which is on the inside that
counts. The same can be said about
people that we meet. When we find a
person who is kind and loving, we hold on to that friendship, because that is
where real beauty lies, that which is in the heart and mind.
“Are
you saying then that mommy was not pretty when you met her?” “No, not in the least sweetheart, she was and
is very beautiful, and that is what first drew me to her, but it was that which
was in her heart that made me fall in love with her.”
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| Great grandma Marjie, Abby and Anne |
“You
see children, when we die and go to heaven, that which is in our hearts, along
with our souls, will go with us and that is what lasts for eternity.”
We
proceeded in silence for a long time and I knew in my heart that my children
were thinking hard about our talk.
