Two weeks ao we studied the fowls of the air and the lillies of the field from Jesus' sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where theives break through and steal...
The following week I gave the girls their new May toys. Faith got a great Farm Cube puzzle to go along with our P is for Pig week and Rebekah got a cute little Hide and Peek Chocolate set. They both loved their new toys. Well the two rectangle shaped chocolates from the set have disappeared. We hadn't left the house between the time we got the toy and I realized they were not just misplaced in their little kitchen or something so I know they are in the house and probably together but I have turned our house upside down in search for them and they are nowhere to be found. I was getting more and more irritated with the girls with every investigation that turned up empty. Every time I looked under a bed or behind a piece of furniture that did not produce the lost article, I could feel my anger rising. "Why can't they take care of their toys!" "I just bought this" "They haven't been playing with it for a week and it is already ruined!" Normally my girls take very good care of their things. We haven't lost a toy or part of a toy in over a year when Dolly was found behind my Grandmother's Bible on a bookshelf! But I was still really annoyed, probably becasue I thought this was a great toy and how dare they ruin it! As I was venting my frustration to Frank later he reminded me that other people in this family have been known to put fingernail polish remover on the coffee table, blighting it permanently and we still manage to use it and not continually condem the offender for the act. Well, that was me of course who took the stain off the coffee table with a cotton ball soaked in nail polish remover. I try to hide it with a coaster but for the most part it has just become a continual reminder for me that all of this material stuff will pass away and my treasure is not here but in heaven. It was also a good lesson for me in the fact that I did it, not Frank because of course if he'd ruined my coffee table I would have been furious but since it was me I expected grace.
My kids make mistakes, I make mistakes, even my husband makes mistakes (occasionally) but we are storing up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust (nor acetone) doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal (or misplace).
**JUNE 8, 2013 UPDATE** In the process of looking for the chocolate and pizza pieces I found a piece of meat from the Melissa and Doug Stir Fry Set that belongs to my dear friend with whom we did a weekly toy swap before they moved away. They moved in February and who knows how long it had been in that bag of bags before that. Then one day while talking to Sabrina on the phone I realized that the piece of meat was missing! I began searching for it and in my search found the pizza and chocolate set! It was smashed partially under the shoe bucket and partially behind the bookshelf. Elated that I found my toys, I was really upset that I'd lost hers, even though a week earlier neither she nor I knew it was missing! I ended up finding it a few days later in the pocket of my apron where I'd put it for safe keeping. Then today Frank presented me with the "pinch" measuring spoon I have used for years to measure out the girls' probiotics that go in their morning milk. Over a month ago I'd lost it and eventually realized I must have thrown it out by its being stuck to a garbage bag I was using on the counter to put the days cooking refuse into. Apparently when I took the bag out to the garbage bin the spoon fell off and got partially buried in the grass because today while playing with the girls outside my pinch was found! Now I don't have to use 2 smigins anymore :) Just some good reminders from God our treasures must be in Heaven, He does provide for our needs on earth, even the little pinch needs!
No comments:
Post a Comment