You can look, but you can't touch...

As a little girl growing up, I had a doll cabinet in my bedroom. It was floor to ceiling with lighted shelves and a glass door. It was filled with beautiful dolls of all shapes and sizes. Madame Alexander, Ginny, Holiday Barbies, porcelain babies and figurines. I would sit at the case in awe of how fancy their dresses were and how perfect their hair was curled. I loved to rearrange them in my imaginary hierarchy...most beautiful at the front of the case. My grandmother would always tell me when I got a new doll, "This one has been discontinued, you need to hang on to her because she'll be worth something someday." As a result, many of the dolls still had registration tags tied to their wrists or umbrellas zip-tied in place to preserve their authenticity. Many of the dolls came with tiny custom brushes, but you would NEVER brush their hair because it might lower their value to disrupt the original curl. I loved my dolls, but I never actually played with them...they were going to be worth something to someone someday.

     

Flash forward 20 years. I'm sitting at the kitchen table and Jerry starts pulling out old memorabilia boxes...."can we get rid of this one, are we keeping this one, etc?" I think my parents have finally tired of moving boxes and boxes of my old toys around, and it is time to sort. As the lids start coming off of my old Madame Alexander dolls, I'm amazed at how perfect they look. Every curl still perfectly intact, none ever played with. We start discussing the prospect of selling them or saving them in case I have a daughter someday. For what? So that she too can put them in a cabinet and keep her hands behind her back. NO, let's cash them in. Let's sell them to the "someone" they've been waiting to be worth something to. Log on to ebay, search for the going rate, wow. While a couple of the dolls are worth $60 or $70, most are either not selling or only worth $15.
What a waste. I could have been playing with them all that time. Imagine the enjoyment I would have had sitting them at a tea party, taking them down a slide, or just combing their perfect curls. Instead, they have spent 20 years in a box in the attic only to be worth nothing to anyone...including me. One might ask what the most valuable toy I found in the many boxes we sorted through.....hands down, Rainbow Bear.

 Rainbow Bear is a 2 foot tall purple bear with torn suspenders, one eye, and stuffing pouring out of his back. He probably cost $10 brand new at Walmart, but to me he is priceless. I would sell 1000 porcelain dolls before auctioning him. Silly? I don't think so. It broke my heart to hear Jack say, "Mommy, these are your special dolls we don't want to touch." What makes something special? How do we treat our special things? Do we keep them special by boxing them up and saving them for a rainy day, or do we use them til the stuffing comes out and know they were priceless to us??? I choose the latter.
As a result, the next time you see me, you might notice I'm wearing a new ring. It belonged to my grandmother, and I have admired and loved it since I was probably 3 years old. I have always thought it the most beautiful piece of jewelry ever. I was allowed to wear it to prom and special banquets as a teenager, and the week before my wedding my mom gave it to me. "MaMa would have wanted you to have it." Special. Beyond special. It has been sitting in a box for over 6 years. I've worn it maybe once since my wedding. After my epiphany I've decided that I want to enjoy it everyday.

I want to look at it and remember the amazing, beautiful, and Godly woman that my grandmother was. I want it to remind me that, like Christ, I want to live specially and share all of the inner parts of myself with others. Our special Savior did not stay in Heaven to be seen and not touched. He walked among men, encountered and loved the people, and He gave of Himself to death. I love Him for it, and I love Him for the lessons he continues to teach me through the little things everyday. This is how I felt.