Mary walked in and shut the door after school.<\/p>\n
\u201cMommy, you look nice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you want something.\u00a0 What is it?\u201d asked her mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you please get me a black dress with sparkles and a shawl attached to it? The one we saw in that store?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mom raised an eyebrow. \u201cThe one that was $199.99?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary looked at the floor and\u00a0whispered, \u201cPlease?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you want it?\u201d asked Mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow is picture day, and Hailey will be wearing a white dress with flowers, and Miley is dying her hair and getting clothes worth so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMary, sit down,\u201d said her mom as they walked to the couch.\u00a0\u201cWe just don\u2019t have money for a dress like that. Plus, you\u2019ll grow out of it by the end of this month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Mary interrupted. \u201cBut Mom! It\u2019s NOT FAIIIIIIIR!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom shook her head, \u201cLife is not fair, darling. God says, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. . . . Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.’ It means to give your thanks to God and have gratitude for what he has given you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, once there was a boy in my class who lived on the streets, but he never complained and went to our church and was always smiling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yes, the Tucker family. Great example. They were thankful for what they did have, and God eventually blessed them with income and money to buy a house. Even though now they have the money, they gave half of it away and only bought a small home. And at church, they always give away gifts. That’s what we should be like. Spend our money for God, not to be better than others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, I will pick flowers and wear my old dress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom smiled, \u201cGood thinking love.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mary walked in and shut the door after school. \u201cMommy, you look nice,\u201d she said. \u201cI can tell you want something.\u00a0 What is it?\u201d asked her mom. \u201cCan you please get me a black dress with sparkles and a shawl attached to it? The one we saw in that store?\u201d Her mom raised an eyebrow. \u201cThe one that was $199.99?\u201d Mary looked at the floor and\u00a0whispered, \u201cPlease?\u201d \u201cWhy do you want it?\u201d asked Mom. \u201cTomorrow is picture day, and Hailey will be wearing a white dress with flowers, and Miley is dying her hair and getting clothes worth so much.\u201d \u201cMary, sit down,\u201d said her mom as they walked to the couch.\u00a0\u201cWe just don\u2019t have money for a dress like that. Plus, you\u2019ll grow out of it by the end of this month.\u201d Then Mary interrupted. \u201cBut Mom! It\u2019s NOT FAIIIIIIIR!\u201d Mom shook her head, \u201cLife is not fair, darling. God says, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. . . . Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.’ It means to give your thanks to God and have gratitude for what he has given you.\u201d \u201cMom, once there was a boy in my class who lived on the streets, but he never complained and went to our church and was always smiling.\u201d \u201cOh yes, the Tucker family. Great example. They were thankful for what they did have, and God eventually blessed them with income and money to buy a house. Even though now they have the money, they gave half of it away and only bought a small home. And at church, they always give away gifts. That’s what we should be like. Spend our money for God, not to be better than others.\u201d \u201cOkay, I will pick flowers and wear my old dress.\u201d Mom smiled, \u201cGood thinking love.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotionals","tag-thankfulness"],"yoast_head":"\n