treasures....new and old

still decluttering.....

today i went through a shelf containing bible college course material.  had a good many of those under my belt.  do i throw it all away????  think i will keep the binders of papers written, questions answered, etc. for a little while longer.  also on that shelf was folder after folder of children's ministry information.  conferences attended near and far, child information sheets, lessons, manual and handbook material written by my own hand.  good grief i had a knack for laying it all out.  i could cover every detail of procedures to be followed for everything from cleaning and organizing the nursery to children's church checklists, pioneer clubs, vbs, back to school blowouts, worship times, ministry times, leadership training, check-in procedures, background checks, team building......makes me exhausted just throwing it all in the burn pile.

it got me to thinking and praying.  i gave myself totally and completely to the call i believed with all my heart that God had on my life to teach, train and activate the little children in the ways and knowledge of the Lord.  i gave blood, sweat and tears for years......until one day - and i remember it well - i was cleaning out the nursery in my old church building.  children's ministry had become a struggle for a time....you know when the grace has run out of something in your life. my pastor at the time stuck his head in the door to find me sprawled out spread eagle on the floor on my back staring up at the ceiling. all i could say was, "pastor___, i can't do it anymore.  i can't think up one more lesson, game, or event.  i'm done." and so i was.  and so i am.  the papers i emptied from the shelves today will go into my own private little burn pile.  i will say a prayer and dedicate all of me that went into that work to God and light the flames.  let it burn. and one day when we are standing face to face perhaps He will open up His heart and show me the residue of all of the passion and dedication that i gave so willingly and freely that remains with Him.  perhaps the ashes will be fashioned into a jewel to be placed in the crown that i will throw down at his feet.  well, after all, a girl can dream..............

in the meantime, mimi has found a fresh breath of late, in teaching my little fox a thing or two about the fruit of the Spirit, among other things biblical..... because, well....every teacher and interpreter of the Sacred Writings who has been instructed about and trained for the kingdom of heaven and has become a disciple is like a householder who brings forth out of his storehouse treasure that is new and treasure that is old, the fresh as well as the familiar.....Mt.13:51-52 (Amp.)

well, well, well......i guess a girl can dream, after all............ ;-)