Heart Treasures

Sometimes there is a belonging that represents more than the eye can see. I call that a heart treasure. Even if the possession is lost or broken or destroyed by fire, the heart will still hold the memory of that item, coddled tightly by love.

I had a box of plates that I collected during the first years of our marriage. Most had the name of states we visited. When we lived in State Center, John even built plate racks that went along the ceiling of our basement. We displayed the plates. Then when we moved five years later, I didn't want to hang them up again because it was a lot of work and I guess I'd outgrown them. Finally, 25 years later, when we moved to Ankeny, I decided I didn't need the unopened box of plates gathering dust so they were donated. They weren't heart treasures.

The stained glass window shown at the right is a heart treasure. It holds history and memories (some I haven't even remembered yet). This window was in the old sanctuary of my ancestral family church - the church my great-great-great-great grandfather and grandmother helped establish. It remains the oldest established church in Marshall County Iowa and is still going strong. Praise the Lord!

The window now hangs in the stairwell of our home. It graced the church for nearly one hundred years before a couple of years in storage with us, then we recently got it hung. It is a heart treasure.

I looked at the window nearly every Sunday for about 60 years. It hung over the old organs, and then a grand piano. Before that there was a choir and I'm not sure about before that. It looks prim and proper, holy and heavenly, lovely and everlasting. Fortunately, there were many others from the church who also got windows to keep the memory of Bethel Grove alive in their hearts and their homes, even if they have now moved on.

Jesus, Himself, established one significant heart treasure that would help us always remember Him and that He gave His body and blood for our sins. He established the Lord's Supper so we would remember Him.

"And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you," (Luke 22:19-20 NIV).

What are your heart treasures? Thank God for them and take some time to cherish your memories.