Treasures

I admit, I used to watch The Brady Bunch.
Every girl my age, at the time, wanted to be Marcia.
I confess that I even wrote her a letter when I was one of those pre-teen girls.
I never got an answer from her, but I got a letter from Jan and Peter.

Those letters got tucked away with other memorabilia.
Tucked away like my Happy Days book, signed by Richie, Fonzie, Ralph, and Potsie.
When I got older, I saw no need for those “childish things.”
I simply gave them away.

They are probably floating around out there and will show up on eBay one of these days.
Why don’t we have the ability to realize the things that are worth keeping?
I think “ridding out” is a good thing to do and I do it often.
I wish my young teenage self had seen the benefit of keeping things I easily threw away.

I have done that with clothes as well.
I go through my closet and begin to sort through clothes.
If I haven’t worn it for a while, it goes into a pile.
After I sort everything, I sift through the, I’m not sure, pile.

Many times the entire, I’m not sure, pile is donated.
The clothes are in great condition and I know that they will be used by someone else.
There are certain times, however when I have given things away too quickly.
I go into my closet looking for that maxi skirt or that pair of shoes and they are gone.

I always wanted my children to do the same.
Most of the clothes got passed down.
However, toys were always sorted.
I have kept most of my children’s toys from all those year ago; some ridding out has happened.

My youngest daughter still wishes that she had not given away her Polly Pockets.
My older girls remember a few things they gave away too quickly.
Mostly, it is topic for conversation.
Remember when we used to play…

My oldest son was ready to give up a garage that he played with all the time.
Are you sure? I remember asking him.
I did not want to negate his generosity but I knew he loved this garage.
I’m sure, he said and that was that.

I knew the organization that was collecting the toys.
I was to meet the woman in a designated location so I could drop everything off to her.
The toys were in the back of the minivan.
My son came running out to the garage.

Mom, wait, he said loudly.
I imagined that he had second thoughts.
I opened the back of the minivan and he climbed in.
He started moving the things around that I had just placed in the car.

He pulled out his garage.
He reached his hand up into a little crevice above the garage door.
He pulled out a squishy ball that looked like the earth.
He reached his hand into another crevice and pulled out a small figure he had put there.

Ok, he said, you can take it now.
That’s all you needed? I asked him.
Yep, these are my special treasures, he said as he walked into the house.
A squishy ball that looked like the earth and a small figure were considered treasures.

My son was satisfied.
Some other child got years of play with the garage he gave away, I am sure.
Perhaps they stuck a treasure or two into a crevice.
I have never forgotten the day my son retrieved his treasures from the top of the garage.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

My son thought is was so important to retrieve his treasures.
I thought he was having second thoughts about giving the garage away.
My son simply wanted to get something that was special to him.
He wanted to get something that others would have easily overlooked.

A small figure and a squishy ball that looked like the earth seem insignificant.
Those things meant something to my son.
It did not matter what I thought; to my son those things were worth retrieving.
To anyone else, those two things would easily have been overlooked or tossed aside.

We are treasures in jars of clay.
We are important to God.
We matter greatly to Him.
God would go to any lengths to retrieve us.

And He did.
God the Father sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place.
Jesus died and rose again three days later so we could be retrieved.
Jesus made sure that the treasure in jars of clay was not tossed aside but saved.

To the world, clay jars are ordinary.
To those that hold a utilitarian view, clay jars are disposable.
However, to the One who made us, we are valuable treasures.
What other people overlook is never overlooked by our Creator God.

We may be made of clay but we are treasures.
God’s Word says so.
We may be fragile, and chipped, and broken in places.
However, we are incredibly special to God our Father.

We are His treasures.