~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS:

Perhaps you've heard the story of Johnny Lingo, a man who lived in the South
Pacific. The islanders all spoke highly of him. He was strong, good-looking,
and very intelligent. But when it came time for him to find a wife, people
shook their heads in disbelief.  The woman Johnny chose was plain, skinny,
and walked with her shoulders hunched and her head down. She was very
hesitant and shy. She was also a bit older than the other married women in
the village, which did nothing for her value.

But this man loved her. What surprised everyone most was Johnny's offer. In
order to obtain a wife, you paid for her by giving her father cows. Four to
six cows was considered a high price. The other villagers thought he might
pay two or even three cows at the most. But he gave eight cows for her!!

Everyone chuckled about it, since they believed his father-in-law put one
over on him. Some thought it was a mistake.

Several months after the wedding, a visitor from the United States came to
the Islands to trade and heard the story of Johnny Lingo and his eight-cow
wife.  Upon meeting Johnny and his wife the visitor was totally taken aback,
since this wasn't a shy, plain, and hesitant woman, but one who was
beautiful, poised, and confident.

The visitor asked about this transformation, and Johnny Lingo's response was
very simple. "I wanted an eight-cow woman, and when I paid that for her and
treated her in that fashion, she began to believe that she was an eight-cow
woman. She discovered she was worth more than any other woman in the
islands. "And what matters most is what a woman thinks of herself."

Gwen Love