We didn't have much growing up, but we had everything we needed.
Every once in a great while, my dad would give me some pennies, or a
nickel, but on this particular day my dad gave me a dime. I was so
excited. I must have been around seven years of age and all I had on
my mind was a bottle of pop and that dime I had in my hand. I ran out
of the house with my money in my hand and when I got to the stone
driveway...the BIG...stone driveway...I dropped my dime. Everything
changed in an instant. I went from pure joy into panic mode. I
looked and I looked but I couldn't find the dime. The silver from the
dime blended in so nicely with the gray stones. Where did it go? I
heard it hit the stones. I know I heard it! My dime was lost. I
went into the house and told my dad I lost the dime. I asked him for
another dime. He said, "No!" No? Dad said he didn't have another
dime. So I went back out and looked and cried and looked some more.
Never before had something been given to me, that meant so much to me,
that I lost. I never could find that dime, but I learned some very
good lessons that day. I never again lost another coin.
I realize now, more than ever, had dad given me another dime I would
not have learned much from this experience. The results were lasting
and valuable. This might seem a little harsh to some, but there are
consequences in life. It was better that I learned that lesson over a
dime than something much more detrimental. We sometimes try too hard
to shelter our children from pain and sorrow. Or we try to "make it
all better" when our children are in pain. We all need to go through
the pain and sorrows of life. We will never fully appreciate the joy
that happiness brings if we don't know what the pain of sorrow feels
like.
So, how much is a dime worth? To "coin" a phrase, to me a dime is...priceless.
Proverbs 23:4-5 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
Every once in a great while, my dad would give me some pennies, or a
nickel, but on this particular day my dad gave me a dime. I was so
excited. I must have been around seven years of age and all I had on
my mind was a bottle of pop and that dime I had in my hand. I ran out
of the house with my money in my hand and when I got to the stone
driveway...the BIG...stone driveway...I dropped my dime. Everything
changed in an instant. I went from pure joy into panic mode. I
looked and I looked but I couldn't find the dime. The silver from the
dime blended in so nicely with the gray stones. Where did it go? I
heard it hit the stones. I know I heard it! My dime was lost. I
went into the house and told my dad I lost the dime. I asked him for
another dime. He said, "No!" No? Dad said he didn't have another
dime. So I went back out and looked and cried and looked some more.
Never before had something been given to me, that meant so much to me,
that I lost. I never could find that dime, but I learned some very
good lessons that day. I never again lost another coin.
I realize now, more than ever, had dad given me another dime I would
not have learned much from this experience. The results were lasting
and valuable. This might seem a little harsh to some, but there are
consequences in life. It was better that I learned that lesson over a
dime than something much more detrimental. We sometimes try too hard
to shelter our children from pain and sorrow. Or we try to "make it
all better" when our children are in pain. We all need to go through
the pain and sorrows of life. We will never fully appreciate the joy
that happiness brings if we don't know what the pain of sorrow feels
like.
So, how much is a dime worth? To "coin" a phrase, to me a dime is...priceless.
Proverbs 23:4-5 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.