$3 for eighty cents?!

i was furious this evening when i found out that my 6 year old daughter traded $3 in coins she had (for a fundraiser at school) for .80 cents. i saw no logic in it, she gave me no answer other than she wanted to..she doesn't know the girl's name, only that she is in second grade. i kept saying over and over, "you gave up your three dollars for .80 cents?" this may seem menial to you, but i'm all about teaching my girls the value of a dollar and RESPONSIBILITY!!! not to mention, most of the money she had came out of her sister's piggy bank. $3 in exchange for .80 cents. sounds like a raw deal to me.

so, who do i call and vent to? my best friend of course!!! i called david, her daddy, my husband, our rock. i just couldn't understand why anyone would give three dollars in exchange for eighty cents. i wanted him to talk to her; he did, much more calmly than me, and then when i got back on the phone, i just kept saying, "why would she DO that?! $3 for eighty cents?!"...and then of course all of my questioning subsided when the Spirit reminded me i do that to my Savior all the time.

i have the most costly gifts...salvation, grace, mercy. and i am daily exchanging it for something much cheaper...wrong attitudes, harsh words, pride. i willingly exchange my gifts from God for something that is of far less value. and i do this often. how many times do i get done praying, "thank you so much for Your mercy"...and then refuse to give mercy to someone else who needs it? or maybe i'll trade His love in on people-approval..DEFINITLEY MUCH LESS VALUABLE BY THE WAY, because basically people suck and so does their approval. most i know are fake fake fake and their approval is also fake fake fake. so instead of making sure i'm pleasing Him and basking in His love for me, i'm too busy ignoring His acceptance and seeking it in someone else.

this is an every day occurence that WE ALL do this!!! we take the diamonds and pearls that our Father in Heaven gives us and exchange them at the corner street market for some cheap costume jewelry. and then we walk around all day wearing our costume jewelry, thinking we're better than everyone, full of pride and "me-ness," and completely ignore the fact that the fake jewelry around our necks will break like cheap garbage and we'll be in desperate need for those diamonds and pearls once more.

DEAR GOD, PLEASE don't let me exchange the blessings You give me for something that could NEVER equal the value of Your gifts!!!! $3 for eighty cents may seem like a raw deal, but so does grace in exchange for self.