May
17
2022
The Ball In The Dollar Bin
Posted in Faith 2 Comments
I had my three-year-old granddaughter with me.
We were having a Grandma Day.
In these toddler years, a Grandma day is quite simple.
It means doing something special together.
That something special may be going to a local coffee shop and choose a favorite doughnut.
It may be taking a walk to find leaves, and flowers, or listen to birds as we go along.
It may be going to a store to choose one special thing.
The latter was what we did on our latest Grandma Day.
The one thing that we were searching for was a watering can.
My granddaughter had a watering can with flowers on it, but it broke.
She was sad about that because she likes to help her mommy with the garden.
A new watering can was the object we were seeking.
As we walked into the store, she saw a section that most adults would bypass.
Many things on the shelves in this section cost a dollar.
This area is a child’s delight.
A child could easily stop there and never venture any further into the store.
Grandma, look at the ball! My granddaughter exclaimed.
That ball was hidden in the bin of things, I marveled that she even saw it.
But saw it, she did.
There was a green one, a pink one, and a purple one.
I like the purple one, Grandma! She announced.
The purple one was retrieved from the recesses of the bin.
I allowed her to hold the ball as she was sitting in the large part of the shopping cart.
She turned it this way and that and marveled that the ball had sparkles.
Look at the sparkles, Grandma!
Do you see the ball inside? She continued.
She studied the ball.
She held it up to the light.
I want to show Pop-Pop, she said.
We went around the store, since I needed a few things.
We found the watering can, which we were seeking.
However, the lime green watering can and garden gloves were anti-climatic.
The woman at the register was very used to having children in her line.
She took the ball and quickly scanned it and handed it back to me.
I handed it to my granddaughter who continued to cradle it as if it was precious treasure.
To her, it was.
When we got home, she showed Pop-Pop her special ball.
She asked him to take off the sticker for her.
My husband worked tirelessly to remove the glue from the price sticker.
Why would they ever put something like this on a ball? He asked no one in particular.
When he handed the ball back to her, she dropped it on the hardware floor.
She squealed with delight; Oh, Grandma, look!
I turned to see the dollar ball bounce across the hardwood floor, lights flickering inside.
It lights up! It lights up! She squealed.
A purple ball, costing only a dollar, magically lit up when dropped on a hard surface.
The ball she saw inside was some sort of light.
The sparkles lit up and looked even prettier than when she found the ball in the bin.
She did indeed have a special treasure in her hand.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)
Somehow, I relate to the purple ball from the dollar bin.
I am that purple ball.
So are you.
We are fairly ordinary on the outside; we may even feel hidden among flashier things.
Inside, we have a treasure that God sees.
Inside, we have a treasure that God knows because He put it there.
We might as well sparkle with flashing lights.
We contain the breath of God and are made in the image of God.
We carry around a concealed dignity. (Michael Card and Bill Lane)
Indeed we do.
We do not have flashing lights or sparkles that are obvious to others.
But inside us, there is far more: God’s image and God’s breath.
Concealed dignity indeed.
I love the analogy of “hidden” treasures in us! I believe we all have talents God has given us; sometimes we know what they are but many people haven’t found theirs yet. The best treasure, hopefully not hidden, is being God’s child and having the Holy Spirit in us.
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You’re so right, Sue…being God’s child and having the Holy Spirit in us is the best treasure. May our light shine in the darkness!
Gina