By Joan Endicott
This special series is written for all ages to enjoy and share with those you love! — Joan
The trees were alive with autumn color, showing off their shimmery golds, sunset oranges, and candy-apple reds like one final exclamation point before letting go. The morning air was crisp and clean, filled with the scent of damp earth and sweet woodsmoke from their small fire.
“My friend’s birthday party was fun,” Joy said, watching the breeze gently guide the leaves to the ground.
“I’m excited to hear all about it!” GiGi smiled, wrapping her cozy scarf around her neck.
“Well, at first my tummy felt nervous. Then I remembered what you told me about friends.”
“Ohhh, what did you remember, sweetie?”
“To have a friend, you get to be a friend… first,” Joy said softly. “So I looked for ways to be kind and make other girls smile, even if they weren’t smiling at me.”
GiGi agreed. “Ohhh yes! That is the best and bravest way to walk into a room.”
“And then,” Joy continued, her eyes widening, “came the presents. Oh, GiGi… she got everything!”
“Everything?” asked GiGi, a warm twinkle in her eyes.
“Well… everything I could ever dream of having,” Joy grinned, leaning on the handle of her rake and looking off into the distance. “A pile of presents with shiny ribbons. She got stuff I’ve never even seen before!”
“That does sound like a lot!” said GiGi.
“It was. And she was so sweet. She was grateful for each gift and even shared them right away so we could all play.” Joy reached down to pet Princess, who had just woken from her nap in the warm leaves. “That’s why I felt all mixed up inside.”
“Mixed up how?”
“I was so happy for her,” Joy whispered, wrapping her arms around Princess. “I really was. But right next to the happy… I started to feel sad. Because I wished…those were mine, too. Is it bad to feel both?”
“Oh honey, not at all,” GiGi said, gently lifting Joy’s chin to look in her wondering eyes. “It means you’re human.”
“How can I feel both of those at once, GiGi?
“Well, because two things can be true at the same exact time,” said GiGi. “We can love all the beautiful blessings autumn brings and still miss the long, warmer days of summer. We can feel pure joy for a friend and still hear that little whisper wishing we had what she has.”
GiGi took her gloves off, grabbed their water bottles, and sat down beside Joy and Princess, settling back against the ever-growing leaf pile.
“I actually know exactly how you feel, sweet girl,” GiGi said. “I remember the very first time I heard that whisper. I was about your age, and it was Christmas.”
Joy laid her head on GiGi’s lap, looking up at her, her eyes bright with curiosity. “What did you get?”
“Clothes from a store,” GiGi smiled, her voice warm with the memory. “Before then, almost everything I wore was a hand-me-down or homemade. Seeing those brand-new tags made me feel kinda rich!” GiGi giggled, giving a playful wink.
Joy’s face lit up. “Then what happened?”
“I was pretty thrilled with my Christmas treasures until the next day, when I started going to visit my friends,” said GiGi. “When I saw their piles of presents—just like at your friend’s birthday party—it looked to me like they had gotten everything anyone could ever want.”
“How did your tummy feel, GiGi?” Joy asked.
“Hollow,” GiGi admitted. “Like all the warmth had been scooped right out of me. It was confusing because I loved my friends so much, and I was very glad to see them happy. And just like you, I felt all mixed up inside—happy for them, sad for me. I didn’t know what that feeling was, but I knew I didn’t like it one bit.”
“Do you know what the saddest part was?” GiGi asked gently.
“What?”
“All of a sudden, my brand-new store-bought clothes didn’t look so great to me anymore,” GiGi said. “Nothing about them had changed, of course. But when I compared them to all my friends’ shiny toys and treasures, a quiet lie whispered in my ear. It told me that because they had more stuff, they were going to have more fun… and be more happy than I could be.”
Joy gave a little gasp. “Wow, GiGi, that’s the exact whisper I heard at the party!”
“Well, the good news is, little darlin’, you’ve got perfectly normal feelings right inside there!” GiGi teased, poking Joy’s sides until it turned into a full-on tickle-fest. Their big belly laughs burst into the crisp autumn air.
Princess bounced right into the middle of her happy humans, her tail wagging wildly, putting an end to the tickle-fest with a flurry of warm, wet dog kisses.
The giggles slowly faded into deep, happy breaths as they rested back against the leaves.
“It’s a very old, very familiar whisper,” GiGi offered thoughtfully. “And it’s been stealing the beauty and joy out of God’s most wonderful gifts for a very long time.”
“How old is that whisper, GiGi?” Joy asked curiously.
“As old as the very first garden,” said GiGi, looking up through the canopy of leaves still waiting to fall. “Do you remember the story of Eve, the very first woman?”
“Yes,” said Joy. “She lived in a place where everything was perfect.”
“Everything,” GiGi agreed. “She had every flavor of sweet fruit, amazing animals, clear rivers, warm sunshine, and the friendship of God Himself walking beside her in the cool of the day. She lacked nothing. God loves to give us beautiful gifts to enjoy because He is a good, good Father! And there is a beautiful secret to enjoying those gifts.”
“What’s the secret?” Joy asked.
“By appreciating the Giver of the gifts more than the gifts themselves.” GiGi smiled, bringing her hands together in a gentle posture of praise.
Princess let out a content sigh as if agreeing, tucking herself even tighter between them.
“Until that ugly sssnake showed up and whispered to her,” Joy said, her eyes widening.
“Exactly,” said GiGi. “Out of a whole world where God had said ‘yes’ to everything, that sly whisper got her to stare at the one single tree she didn’t have. It tricked her into believing that all the beautiful gifts God already gave her weren’t enough—and that she couldn’t truly be happy until she had just one more thing.”
Joy gently brushed another leaf out of GiGi’s hair.
“So… it’s the exact same lie?” Joy asked. “It just traded a piece of fruit for birthday presents,” she said, tickled with herself.
“Exactly the same,” GiGi chuckled, delighted by her clever girl. “It’s the oldest whisper in the world. It tempts us to want that one more thing so much that it blinds us. Our own beautiful blessings suddenly become blurry. We stop noticing the hundreds of miracles all around us and forget to be grateful for what is already ours to enjoy!”
“What’s the whisper called?” Joy asked.
“It has two names, depending on how it feels,” GiGi explained, turning to tend the fire. “Sometimes it is envy. Envy looks at what someone else has in their hands and asks, ‘Why do they have that, and not me? I wish it were mine!’”
“And the other?”
“Jealousy,” GiGi answered. “It looks at what is in our own hands and clenches its fists tightly around it, whispering, ‘Mine. If I don’t hold on tight, someone is going to take this away.’”
Joy thought for a long while as she raked more leaves into a pile.
“So they both make you feel empty inside?” Joy asked.
“They do,” said GiGi. “Because neither of them ever gets full. They are the favorite food of the More Monster.”
“The More Monster?”
“Oh, yes,” GiGi chuckled, rubbing Joy’s back. “A hungry little creature that lives on comparison. Whenever you feed it, it whispers, ‘Just one more thing, one more experience, one more person to like you… and then you’ll be happy.’ But it is never happy, it is never satisfied, and it never stops asking.”
“How do you make it go away?” Joy asked.
“First, you stop feeding it—and start feeding your own heart with what it truly needs!” GiGi smiled.
“What’s that?” Joy asked, leaning in closer.
“The Truth from God’s Word,” GiGi said gently. “Just like Eve chose to believe that ugly sssnake instead of God, every moment of every day we are choosing who to believe: the God who loves us and wants only good for us, or that darn devil, who wants only bad for us.”
GiGi picked up her rake. “Deciding to be happy is an inside job. And just like we use tools to do our outside work, God gives us wonderful tools to do the inside work in our hearts. His Word is the most powerful tool of all!”
“So, it’s a power tool?” Joy giggled.
“The most powerful!” GiGi exclaimed. “Jesus defeated the devil’s lies by simply speaking God’s Word, and we get to use that exact same power!” GiGi paused, her eyes shining with happy tears. “Wow. His love amazes me every single day.”
Joy sat up a little straighter, a bright spark of understanding in her eyes. “I can see why you love saying I Get To!® so much.”
“Oh good—tell me!” GiGi grinned.
“Well, ever since I started saying ‘I Get To!’® instead of ‘I have to’, it’s made a huge difference,” Joy beamed. “It helps me see all I’m able to do, and everything I already have, instead of staring at what I don’t.”
“YES! That’s exactly right!” GiGi cheered, looking into Joy’s eyes and stroking her hair. “God reminds me that every moment of every day, I Get To!® choose whose voice I believe. I can listen to the More Monster and say, ‘I wish I had…’ or ‘If only…’ ”
“Orrr?” Joy asked, leaning closer.
“Orrr,” GiGi winked, “I can take a simple step into gratitude, and immediately see the huge pile of gifts God’s given me!”
Joy rested her head on GiGi’s shoulder as the warm fire crackled nearby. “I Get To!®” Joy whispered.
“I Get To!®” GiGi agreed, wrapping her in a tight hug.
Looking at each other, they smiled and said together, “We Get To!” Their hearts felt warm and full, perfectly grateful for the miraculous life they already had.
Joan Endicott is a keynote speaker, coach, and author. Her message, “I Get To!”®, has encouraged people in over 30 countries to make a simple shift in perspective to appreciate the miraculous life they already have. To book her as a speaker for your next event or receive a FREE copy of her book, visit JoanEndicott.com and follow @JoanEndicott for ongoing encouragement.
Dear Readers, Thank you for your encouraging words about the GiGi & Joy series. Please email me with what you’re enjoying and ideas for future topics at [email protected]
