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Brian’s and my 10th anniversary was Friday.  He surprised me with a big day of pampering – massage, manicure, pedicure, haircut, lunch out, and ice cream!- then surprised me again when I got home with a party!  We had a house full of people and a yard full too!  It was so much fun and I was so pleased to see old friends and new ones!

I am ashamed to admit, however, that after everyone left that night I looked around at my little house with mismatched furniture and really bad carpet…..I was a little embarrassed.  I actually said that I hated that people saw our “entertainment center” which is an end table covered with a dvd player, vcr, tapes, dvds, and rabbit ears antenna.  Brian, of course, quickly reminded me that they were there to see us, not our house, and this is just how life is for us at the moment and they can deal with it.  I knew he was right.  But I also know that that has been a hang-up for me at our church.  I often compare myself to the people there, who are overwhelmingly wealthy, with large, nice houses and beautiful decor, vacation homes and nice cars.  Not that I aspire to have those things, I REALLY don’t, but I still feel like I am not good enough to hang around these people.  And, yes, I am aware that that is my own faulty thinking….I place no blame whatsoever on the people I go to church with.  Especially the wonderful ones who showed up at my party because they consider me a friend!!!

So there is a point to this story….I was reading a blog of another homeschooling mom this morning, and she had a beautiful poem in it.  It spoke to me very loudly, and I almost started crying.  I needed to be reminded of my treasures.   This is one of those moments when I can just clearly see God reaching out to me.  He saw what I needed and He provided it.  He is so good!

TREASURES

Some folks I know,
when friends drop in

To visit for a while and chin,
Just lead them round the rooms and halls

And show them pictures on their walls,
And point to rugs and tapestries,
The works of men across the seas;
Their loving cups they show with pride,
To eyes that soon are stretching wide
With wonder at the treasures rare
That have been bought and gathered there.
But when folks come to call on me,
I’ve no such things for them to see.
No picture on my walls is great;
I have no ancient family plate;
No tapestry of rare design
Or costly woven rugs are mine;
I have no loving cup to show,
Or strange and valued curio;
But if my treasures they would see,
I beg them softly follow me.
And then I lead them up the stairs
Through trains and cars and Teddy bears,
And to a little room we creep
Where both my youngsters lie asleep,
Close locked in one anothers’ arms.
I let them gaze upon their charms,
I let them see the legs of brown
Curled up beneath a sleeping gown,
And whisper in my happiness:
“Behold the treasures I possess.”

by Edgar A. Guest

I recently went on a very fun journey to my old stomping grounds.  I spent a day in the town I grew up in, Cameron, Missouri.  I also spent a few days in Bentonville, Arkansas, where I lived for my 9th through 11th grade years.  It was an adventure for me.  I hadn’t been back to Cameron since probably 1991.  It was somewhere I had always wanted to go back to.  It represents childhood to me.  We moved around a lot growing up.  I lived in probably 25 different places by the time I was 10 years old.  But we stayed in Cameron for 6 years, longer than anywhere else I lived growing up.  I have lived in my current home for 8 years, so that is the new record for me!    We did, however, live in 3 different houses while we were in Cameron!  And I was able to remember where all of them were, and drive by and take pictures.  I visited some old friends, who treated me like family, as did their parents who also remembered me and embraced me as their own.  It felt so nice!  It definitely made me want to go back again.  And soon.  Hey, tickets to Kansas City are pretty cheap on Southwest!

Bentonville was fun too.  I got to tour all the new growth areas and still drive by my old hangouts.  I ate lunch at Mazzio’s, my after school workplace there.  I LOVED that place, and the pizza is still fantastic.  I got to see old friends at my 15 year high school reunion.  I also saw many familiar faces at church the next morning.  The highlight for me was getting to hug the neck of one of my Christian mentors.  I told her she’s always one of my examples when I have to tell about my Christian walk, and she said she was proud of me.

I wish I could describe better how good it felt to take that trip.  I missed my family, of course, but it was truly a homecoming for me and it made me look at life in a different light.  Now I am back in the future for me.  I can see where I was then and where I am now.  I’ve grown a lot in every area of my life (including physically, HA!) and I’m pretty proud of me too.