treasures... (D)

As you know, this year I am using Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest for my devotional.  It is such a deep, rich book of treasures and if I am not completely still when I sit down with it I definitely miss out on the jewel for the day.  Today he had us in Acts 26:19, "I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision"...Chambers says, "If we lose sight of the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage.  If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given....The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings."

This is both a relief and a call to action...Sometimes our season of life does not allow us an hour of devotions and to serve on committees and we feel guilty that we are missing the vision.  What he's saying, is that it is not about that...it's about not letting life get so busy that we lose sight of living the walk in our everyday actions and interactions...we lose sight of our minutes...our hours...our days and even our years.  This call to action should be a way of life, not an appearance of holiness because of how much time we spend doing "churchy things."  It is not that doing things as a labor of love for our church is bad...it's just that we can lose sight of the vision when our focus is on the program and not the purpose.

This can happen in other areas of our life as well...have you ever stopped for a minute and realized you've lost sight of you?   Life has kind of crowded out the part of you that appreciates the treasures God has given you to love here on earth.  I'm not only talking about those people we love...but the things we love to do or the beauty and joy we find in the treasures we have.

Every Thursday my friend Melissa at My Cottage Charm celebrates Treasures and Trinkets.  It's a time to share something that we've made or love that has a special meaning to us.  At first I struggled because I have kind of lost track of that part of me in the busyiness of life...but once I reflected, the floodgates opened and now I can think of a hundred things to share.   Don't worry I know this post is already way too long so I will only share one today...

This beautiful Chintz tea set was given to me by my husband a few Valentine Day's ago.  It was something I'd seen on one of our outings and mentioned in passing how muched I loved it, but it was defintely not in our budget.  When he gave it to me I was honestly blown away.  Not just by the beauty and extravagance of the gift but by his thoughtfulness to go back and buy it for me. 

 

I am ashamed to say that it has been placed in a cupboard for safe keeping... but not for long...I will definitely find a special place where it can be shared and cherished in Lemon Ave. cottage.

You are treasured,

Patty