I saw it on a TV commercial when I six years old and had a conniption fit.

As most of you know by now, I was such a little tomboy. But I was a tomboy who loved ballerina stuff. There, I admitted it.

Now I wasn’t into ballet itself. What I loved was what the ballerinas wore. I loved their dresses, especially the tutus. I also loved their shoes and tiaras. Actually, I called them “little crowns.”

One fateful Saturday morning, I was watching cartoons when I saw the TV commercial for a ballerina doll. This was unlike any other ballerina doll I had ever seen. For one, she was a tall doll that could actually spin. Her arms could be placed in several different positions. And you could twirl her by her “little crown.” And best of all, she had the prettiest tutu I had ever seen.

Oh my goodness how I wanted that beautiful ballerina doll. I didn’t just ask my parents for it. I begged and begged. And begged some more, but alas, my parents wouldn’t buy her.

While I was so disappointed at that time, I now know my parents made the right decision by not buying her.

Why?

First, I think it was very expensive and my parents were more worried about me having food than a doll.

Second, I didn’t take very good care of my dolls. After their newness wore off, I was pretty hard on them. Let’s just say they didn’t stay pretty too long.

Third, my neighbors and cousins that were old enough for me to play with were all boys. So when Jimbo, Joey, Skippy, or Harvey came over to play, I pulled out my box of cars and the racetracks.

Oh yeah, I had big box full of small metal cars. Most of them were Matchbox cars. And I don’t know how many pieces of orange race tracks I had. I even had a loop.

We would put the tracks together so that it ran from the living room and all the way down the hallway. We’d hold the end of the track up while standing on the couch. Then we’d let our cars loose on the track to see which car would go the farthest. Sometimes we would place the loop toward the end, but my cars usually fell off of it.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (KJV)

God knows what’s better for us than we do. Just because we want something, doesn’t mean that we need it or it’s good for us. Besides, the best riches we can obtain are from Jesus and not from this side of eternity.

That year for Christmas, my grandparents bought me Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls. The picture is of me holding them and standing next to my papaw. So I got dolls that were the best for me.

Now, if my parents had spent money they didn’t have and bought me the doll, I probably would’ve broken it within a month. And the only way I would’ve played with it then would be to see if Jimbo, Joey, Skippy, or Harvey or me could jump our cars over it.