Sally seemed to be the unluckiest person ever.

First, she was allergic to just about EVERYTHING:

dogs
cats
horses
milk
peanuts
eggs
seafood
trees
flowers
and even BABIES!

It has something to do with that new baby smell.

When Sally was four, her parents bought her a goldfish, which didn’t cause an allergic reaction as long as she didn’t eat it.

However …

The next day, the goldfish died.

They bought another one. Guess what happened? Yep, it died.

The third died.
The fourth died.
The fifth died.
AND the sixth died.

By this time, they had perfected goldfish funerals in their bathroom.

Sally was also …

bad at sports
colorblind
had NO musical talent
attracted static electricity

and she was born on February 29th,

February 29th only occurs every four years on what is called a Leap Year. That means you celebrate your birthday on the wrong day three years out of four.

PLUS …

( Can you believe there’s more? )

Things always broke around Sally.

The front tire of her bike rolled off during the Baker County bike race (it went further than she did).

Her tree house fell out of her tree.

Her tea set wouldn’t hold tea.

She once dropped and broke the urn (it’s like a vase) containing her great, great, great, GREAT grandfather’s ashes all over the carpet.

Her family never could decide if it was OK to vacuum up grandfather’s ashes with the vacuum cleaner.

Whenever something bad happened, people would say, “Sorry, Sally.”

They said it so often that everyone started referring to her as “Sorry Sally.”

However …

Aren’t you glad there is an “however” in this story? A “however” changes things from good to bad OR bad to good.

However, no matter what happened, or how many times it happened, or how awful it was, Sally would respond with the same statement …

“I still have sunshine.”

She said it's so many times that eventually no one really noticed it anymore, UNTIL her 12th birthday

Or would this be her 4th birthday because of that leap year thing?

Sally's parents had planned the BIGGEST, most AMAZING party ever.

Sally loved princesses, and knights, and dragons, and castles. And especially knights, and princesses, and dragons all fighting at a castle.

So, everyone was dressed up as either a knight or a princess (except Sally’s dad, who had to be a dragon but looked more like a big lizard walking on two legs).

They turned her treehouse (the one that was not in the tree) into a castle, and they had a battering ram and catapult to assault the castle (and sometimes the dragon … poor dad).

There was a cake as tall as Sally shaped like a castle tower. And, they hired a jester (like a clown from long ago) who went around telling jokes, making balloon animals, and juggling various things.

They even had a special low-allergy pony dressed like a unicorn (SallyLOVEDunicorns).

It was SPECTACULAR!

All the kids from her class came, and EVERYONE was having a wonderful time.

However …

Sorry, but this is NOT a good “however.”

An hour later,
things went

really

really

really

BAD.

It all started when Edgar Evensworth used the catapult to launch Tom Tulley’s Knight helmet. It went over the fence into Sally's neighbor's yardand landed on a dog house with a large …

C L A N G !

The bulldog inside the dog house shot out and began barking at EVERYTHING and EVERYONE.

This spooked the unicorn pony, who started running in circles around the yard with Johnny Johnson still on his back. The pony kept knocking into little knights whose visors would close and send them blind in random directions.

One crashed into the presents.

Another knocked over the drinks.

A third broke into the castle.

And, remember Jonny Johnson on the back of the unicorn pony? Well, he got thrown into the cake tower, which was messy but a soft and tasty landing.

Sally, her family, and all the kids just stood there, silent, and staring at all the destruction.

Then …

BOOM!

It started to rain.

Actually … it poured.

There was nothing left to salvage from Sally's party.

At the same time, everyone said …

“Sorry, Sally.”

Sally said nothing.

It was completely quiet until Sally's brother Sam said, “I guess you don't even have sunshine, do you, Sally?”

Sally slowly smiled.

YES, I DO!

I ALWAYS have
sunshine.

God's love is like sunshine. It’s BIG, BRIGHT, WARM, and unlike the sunshine from our sun, we can feel the rays of God's love all the time.

His love is greater than all my presents, the games, the food, and even the unicorn pony.

Then Sally pointed at Mike Mullens. “Mike, what was the best present you have ever received?”

Mike thought for a second and said,

“When I was four, I got a fire engine big enough to ride in. It had sirens, a ladder, and even hoses that could shoot water. I loved that firetruck.”

“Where is your fire truck now?” asked Sally.

“I don't know,” replied Mike. “My dad backed over it with his car, and we threw it away.’

“See!” said Sally.

“Everything in this world can break or get stolen or disappoint you. But God's love is eternal. That means it lasts forever and can't be taken from us.”

“Because God loves us, He sent us the best gift ever, His own Son, Jesus.” Having Jesus in our lives can bring us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and even self-control.”

I choose to enjoy God's love.

God’s Sonshine.

Everyone was completely quiet again until Sam (again) said, “I think you're the luckiest girl ever to have the love of God's son.”

That made everyone smile, especially Sally.

That day, everyone left the party with a little Sonshine themselves, and no one ever thought Sally was unlucky again.