For Where Your Treasure Is

For our first Bible study of 2012, Aaron and I read Luke chapter 12.

Let me tell you, if you're looking for a good read for the start of your new year, Luke 12 will give you a lot to work with.

As we read, these verses stood out to me.  

"Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted,

where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Luke 12: 33-34

And I knew, this is what I need to remember this year.
What are my treasures?

I know what my treasures should be.
They should be people.

And not just these people.
(although, it's easy to see why, in these kind of moments, they are my treasures)

But my treasures should be all kinds of people.
Yes, my husband.
Yes, my kids.
But also, my parents.
My siblings.
My in-laws.
My neighbors.
My best friends.
My new friends.
My kids' friends.
My old friends.
My favorite checkers at Trader Joe's.
My kids' swim teacher.
My blogging buddies.
My treasures should be the relationships I have with people.

Relationships take time.
And I always feel I am running short on time.
But maybe I just need to adjust the way I spend my time.
Maybe I need to spend more time with you.
Would I prefer to stay home and let the kids play in the backyard while I get things done in the house?
Often times, yes I would.
It's easier to stay put, not to pack lunches, and work around nap times.
But easier isn't always better.
And maybe taking the time to be with you is more valuable than wiping down my kitchen cabinets.
Maybe I need to do less of that and more of this.
Maybe I need to remember who my treasures are.

I hate talking on the phone.
How many interruptions can one phone call have?
Call my house around noon and you'll find out.
Waaaaay more than you ever thought humanly possible.
And by the time their bed time rolls around, I hardly want to talk to my husband, let alone anyone else.
But when my mom says to me, "sometimes I just need to hear your voice," I need to listen to that and call her every once in a while.
I think she'd like that.
I think she'd like to know that she is one of my treasures.

And in those moments when I've finally served everyone else lunch, and nursed the baby and cleaned up the lunch mess, and made my own lunch and shooed the kids out the back door and sat down to eat in my 10 minutes of quiet for the day, I need to think about my treasures.
Because that is the moment when Lilly comes in and says, "can I have a bite of that?"
What I really want to say to her (and often do) is, "NO, you can NOT have a bite of this!  I just made you lunch.  Now give me 10 minutes to myself and go outside and play with your brothers!  Dang it!"
And then what an opportunity I have lost.
She is my treasure.
Not a lunch to myself.
Not 10 minutes to myself.
Not myself.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
This will not be easy.

This morning in church we sang this song:
"Create in me a clean heart O God,
That I might be serve you.
Create in me a clean heart O God,
That I might be renewed.
So fill me.
And heal me.
And bring me back to You.
Create in me a clean heart O God,
That I might serve You."

And so, in this month of New Year's resolutions, of cleaning out closets and detoxing bodies, of getting back in shape and cutting the clutter, I've decided I need to get my heart in order.

I've read lots of inspiring New Year's blog posts and I've been reorganizing my pantry with the best of them.

But those things really don't matter.

Oh yes, it feels good to have my pantry shelves all spic and span.

But if my heart is crowded with bitterness, selfishness and rage, well then, I am putting my energy in the wrong place.

"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips." Colosians 3:8 

(really want a challenge? read the whole passage)

I need to spend less of my time on me and more of it on others.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

2011 was about healing.

And I can't wait to write about it.

But I am ready to move forward now.

My hope for 2012 is that God would fill me so that I might serve Him, and you.

My hope is that I will remember who my treasures are.

I'm only a week (or so) late in saying, Happy New Year!

Love from,

Greta

PS. About the pictures.  

One day last month William wanted to get in the crib and take pictures with Davy.  

Then everyone did.  It was really sweet.  And funny.

Don't you just love how Davy is so into his big brothers and loving every moment with them?  

But then his big sister gets in the crib with him and he's all, "get this woman the heck away from me!"

Sometimes she's a little rough in her love for him.

Like, squeeze his neck way too tight kind of love.

Like, tickle his armpit way too hard kind of love.

Like, rub his head so hard his hair is coming out kind of love.

Not really.

But almost.

He gets a little overwhelmed by her on occasion.

But she does love him.

She makes sure his buttons are buttoned and his snaps are snapped.

She helps with diaper changes and washes his hair in the bath.

She loves you David.

Sometimes it's just a bit too much.

Also, thanks to those of you who sent notes saying hi and you hoped all was well.

It is.

I know I was gone a long while.

Longer than even after I had a baby.

Weird.

But Christmas and all its activities, projects, busy, busy, busy days and nights got to me.

The Christmas curse got to me.

It even got to me on New Year's weekend when I came down with the flu and thus could not catch up the way I had planned.

It is only this week that I feel like I am almost back to normal after all the holiday frivolity.

And that's saying something because I have had 4 sick kids for the past week.

Look for lots of mid January Christmas posts coming up.

I am not ashamed to look back!