Belongings

I recently found a box in the bottom of one of my closets.  It was full of things I had taken out of my mom's cedar chest when she gave it to me - her keepsakes. I thought she would like to have them...since they are hers anyway. Even though she can no longer see, she remembered each item in detail.  A black Bible given to her by my grandmother, grandfather, and uncle.  An old math workbook dating back to 1942. Cards from each holiday...bags of them, belonging mostly to my grandmother, Bessie. (see post entitled Bessie) My birth announcement.  My grandpa's stamp book. A framed painting that my brother did.

Be still, my 'stationery' heart!

Moms keep things like that.  My children's keepsakes are in the attic in containers marked with their names...Lee, Luke, Jana, and Denny. Each one is filled with the secrets of younger days and younger ways.  Baseball cards, dolls, stuffed animals, school papers, achievements, trophies...small indicators of who they were and what they loved. Someday they will enjoy looking through those things, but until then, they will remain safe in my care.

It is easy to become attached to our possessions...our belongings.  They represent us in a way, telling our story back to ourselves lest we forget...and we do forget. Smells, pictures, books we read, can often take us to another time that we once visited.  As precious as our aging treasures might be to us, they will pale in comparison to the unfading, ageless, imperishable ones given by the Father. He keeps our treasures...laid up in heaven, where moth nor dust corrupts and where thieves do not break in and steal.  They are in His care, waiting for us.

No matter the gifts this Christmas - remember that these earthly things pass.  Eternal riches are just that...eternal.  The best Gift is the One that gives back timelessly. Jesus.

Merry Christmas!