All That Stuff

I have a hard time getting rid of things. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hoarder.
I have a very easy time throwing things away, a little too easy… 😂😂
Organizing and purging is a great past time of mine, but I’m also very sentimental.


Today, one of my baskets caught my eye. There’s really nothing special about it, in fact it doesn’t even go with my decor anymore. But when I looked at that basket, a memory rushed through me. A memory of antique shopping with my mom and dad. My dad bought me that basket and in that split second I was transported to that time, as if I was watching a scene from a film of my life. I was able to relive that moment with my dad and it made me smile.


I probably wouldn’t have thought about that specific moment in time if I didn’t have that basket.


Things of no significance to others can spark magic in our hearts by striking the memory of a beautiful moment.


There are times that I will be antiquing with my daughter and she will find something that brings her right back to her childhood and moments she shared with my mom. And her heart longs to own that piece that struck that memory.


Quite often we are admonished as Christian’s to not care so much about stuff. About things. Because they’re only things. We can’t take them with us when we die. But I see so much more when I look at things. I can’t take them with me, but I can create happiness all around them that I will leave for my children and grandchildren. Happy moments they will remember and talk about. Memories that will make them smile. Just by looking at one thing.


I don’t think God ever intended our lives to be stark and void of beauty. He intended our souls to be flooded with joy and happiness because that joy and happiness glorifies Him. All you have to do is look around you to realize this.


There is so much beauty God has given us that we take for granted. He didn’t have to create such beauty in a sunset or a field of flowers. Such awe in a starlit sky or the sand upon the seashore, the green pastures and the still waters, the lilies and the sparrows, the secret place of thunder and the little hills that rejoice on every side. (Psalm 23, Luke 12:27, Matthew 10:29-31, Psalm 81:7, Psalm 65:12)


When we recall these things in our mind’s eye, why do we smile? What purpose is in their beauty? Because God delights in joy. God delights in us and through that joy, He is glorified. (Proverbs 8:30-31, 11:20b, Psalm 18:19)


His beautiful creation screams His majesty to the entire world and we are in awe. (Psalm 19:1, 104)


Just as I am in awe of the simple basket at my feet. A basket that holds a precious memory beautifully wrapped inside. A gift from God that belongs exclusively to me. What a wonder to think upon.


They may be wood hay and stubble but don’t feel shame for the joy these sentiments bring. Instead recognize that these tiny treasures of joy are gifts from God. We aren’t meant to worship the gift, but the Giver.


I still have my mom’s old roaster, her big old frying pan, her Christmas dishes and candy jars. I have my dad’s glasses, the ones I helped him pick out just before he passed away. It makes me smile to think of how “spiffy” he felt in them. I cherish each one of these things, and so many more because when I look at them I am flooded with a thankful heart for the memories of happiness they evoke.


They aren’t just stuff. They are beauty to me. They are gifts from God. They are treasures from heaven. Just as His creation, I will always find myself praising Him when I think on them.


Find yourself praising God on a daily basis. Find your own basket and fill it with joy until it is overflowing. The more we recognize God’s amazing gifts all around us, the more we glorify Him and lay up treasures in heaven.


Those things and those memories? When I think on them, I weep with the knowledge of how much God loves me.
Moth and rust can never take that knowledge or those memories away. They are beautiful gifts from God that exemplify the meaning of glorifying through gratefulness. Gifts that we can leave for generations to come.