What's Really Valuable?

In my in-laws' house were several paintings I was telling my daughter Emily about. They were lithographs, some by relatively well-known artists. They had been purchased for over $5,000, but several months ago, they sold for under $250.

Daddy never boasted of artistic ability.  In one of the books I  borrowed from him, he had written in the top margin a note about God's conquering of death, and this is the way he drew crossbones:

I doubt anyone would have paid a dollar for this drawing.

But when I was choosing what to pack when we left Koriyama, there were five items I had to take along: some of the books I was borrowing from Daddy (I'm actually borrowing nine, but there were five I felt I had to read) so ended up taking them.

I could never sell those books...not for $5000.

Who was it...Jim Elliot?  who said: "He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."