*A Post from the Past*
I was on a mission.
My husband had taken the kids on a walk and I had a few minutes to race through the house cleaning and picking up all of the items which seemed to cover every square inch of floor.
I became a veritable “Mommy Tornado”!
Nothing was safe as I worked my way up the stairs and followed the trail of Legos leading to my son’s room.
The epicenter of the mess.
As I looked around the room my eyes landed on his dresser which was strewn with every kind of knick-knack you could imagine.
I started shoving things into drawers and bins not really caring if it landed in the right one.
I just wanted it out of sight.
Where on earth did all of this stuff come from?
Here were rocks, there were little slips of paper and an acorn or two thrown in for good measure.
I knew why they were in his room.
You see, in my son’s case, one man’s trash literally IS another man’s treasure!
Each of these items was intended to be stored away in the most sacred of places.
His Treasure Drawer.
Ticket stubs, batteries, coins, a leather pouch filled with “gold”, pieces of broken toys.
I began going through that drawer looking for items which could possibly be extracted without my son noticing. And I wondered why he had chosen those particular things.
What was it about the particular piece of bark from the playground that caught his eye?
Why was that string so valuable to him?
And I just couldn’t bring myself to throw anything out.
These are all cherished items.
They represent something.
Something he wants to remember.
Something he wants to hold onto.
And it got me thinking.
What am I holding onto?
What can I not let go of?
What is in my “treasure drawer”?
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” Matthew 6:19-21
I know I have a lot of earthly treasures.
I have a home I love and I enjoy making it warm and welcoming.
In that home are many things I value, things which have been passed down from generation to generation. And as grateful as I am for those things, I’m sure that I can’t fully appreciate just how tremendously blessed I really am. Until you have truly gone without, I don’t think you can grasp the magnitude of how much you really have to be thankful for.
But, to be honest, I don’t struggle as much with the “storing up” of those things in my heart.
It is what, or rather WHO, lives inside my home that I want to hide away in my treasure drawer.
There are 3 of them, and they are my treasures.
They are where my heart is.
They consume my thoughts and make up the bulk of my worries and fears.
I hold onto them tightly and begin to think that somehow I can control everything.
I “store up” this control until it paralyzes me to think of something ever happening to my treasures. What if the “moth and rust” seep in? What if “thieves break in and steal”?
What if?
What if?
What if?
And yet, they aren’t really mine, are they?
They belong to the One who loves them even more than I do.
A love like that seems impossible to imagine.
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19
They are really His treasures!
So, I pray for His help in releasing my grip.
I pray that what I “store up” in my heart is a deeper and more abiding love for Him.
And that I will recognize that they never were my treasures to begin with.
They are gifts!
Gifts given to me to cherish while we are here on this earth.
Gifts of which I am only really just a steward.
Gifts which I treasure having in my life.
Thanks for joining me on this Simply Sunday at the Fence,
Vanessa,
So true, beautifully put, we are but stewards of what He has given us. It’s good to be reminded of this.
Leanne@TheBurlapCottage
Such precious gifts and ones only the Lord could give. Amen. Hugs, Marty
Very true, very pointed…each night when I pass by our daughter’s bedroom, I stop and look at her, and say a prayer for her, and if it’s God’s will, for the boy He has chosen for her to marry someday, and for his siblings and parents. And, when thoughts try to creep into my mind about how I want to protect her from all the “what ifs” of life, I have to remind myself, that she is God’s first, and I have to make room, in her room for Him to use her for what He put her on earth for. Giving up control does not come easy for me! It is a daily challenge…
What an amazing post … seriously beautiful and tear-inducing … and now you have me thinking. And that’s saying a lot considering I am not a religious person. But they really are gifts, aren’t they?
And I think that every parent knows all too well that paralyzing “what if” fear that grips your heart and catches your breath and has you bouncing off the walls when it’s getting late and they haven’t returned home and they aren’t answering their cell phone (because, you find out later as they finally round that corner) their cell phone had died …
So thank you for sharing again. This is a post that is new to me and greatly appreciated …
Linda
Beautiful post, Vanessa. It’s amazing how many treasures we’ve been given, isn’t it? The older I get, the more I want to do as Randy Alcorn says in his book, The Treasure Principle — send them on ahead. I want to spend my time and money and skills investing in the kingdom … because when I leave this earth, I won’t be taking anything with me. I like to imagine it waiting for me at the Reunion! … We live in Hope!
Amen! So beautifully shared! Thank you.
Alesha <3
Thank you Vanessa! We love our boy and his treasure drawer!
Nonna and Poppa
So true! I try to remind myself of this very thing when I am feeling overwhelmed or angry with my children. They are gifts, and I was given the privilege and responsibility to love them and raise them to be caring and good human beings. Thank you for the reminder!
Thank you. What a blessing! May God bless and keep you and your beautiful family. Regena in Tn.
Thank you for the reminder.
Oh Vanessa,
This is such an amazingly beautiful sentiment – well written and just wonderful.
Thank you.
I needed this today.
Hugs.
Hi Vanessa,
I loved this the first time, I love it now, a little differently. We raised our 2 kids on the Bible. Our older, the daughter, turned to paganism (her words) in private Christian high school. Ironic or what? But our son with autism stayed with the church, Bible studies, mission trips, etc. We just found out after a very rough evening (I, a former cryer big time, hadn’t cried in years, sobbed so hard) he’s not following Jesus, he’s been faking it because he knows these young people and has no social skills to make new friends. Totally fooled the pastor taking young adults on a mission trip 7-29 sonny was to go on–until last night when he verbally stabbed me and we got the pastor involved and he said sonny isn’t spiritually where he needs to be. So no trip. Of course it’s my fault. Sonny’s not responsible for being explosive and lying. Prayers, please. Thanks.
Janet
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