Treasures and hearts....

are a topic around here lately.

The Chairman of the Board, youngest son, is a natural born collector. If his mother gave into his innate desires, the entire house would be top to bottom collections of rocks, arrow head points, knives, stamps, coins, football cards, and the like. The collections we have allowed him to pursue are coins, knives, and arrow head points. He studies each of these collections and is constantly on the lookout for ways to add to them.

Pele is a natural born artist. He studies drawing. He practices drawing. He doodles for drawing. He collects drawings. He reads about drawing. He plans on purchases for drawing paper, ink, pens, pencils, and all manner of drawing supplies. If we can't find him otherwise in the house, we will find him at his drawing table--drawing.

Chess is a natural born strategist. Hence his nickname "Chess." He studies chess. He practices chess. He creates chess sets out of Legos. He reads about chess. He regularly challenges his brothers to games of chess and is quick to teach anyone he can about the game--so he can play them in chess. He researches and plans on which classic set of chess he wants to buy next.

Our sermon this morning was from Mt. 6:19-24 about our hearts and our treasures. The topic at hand for adults centers on money, usually. For kids who do not earn an income, the topic at lunch discussion centered around how they choose to spend their time and what are the habits developing in their lives. As all three more regularly earn money at odd jobs and landscaping work, their income is gravitating to the areas where their hearts are most fondly occupied.

So we talked about the purpose of money as God's provision to His people and His purpose for us in stewardship as trustees of His generosity. We talked about the necessity of recognizing frivolous expenses, temporal expenses, and eternal expenses. Maybe most importantly we asked them to develop the habit of examining their hearts not only to know where their treasure is but also to beware what idols are creeping in.

Small steps of training regarding small choices today that can result in big consequences tomorrow, both temporal and eternal. Lunch was physically only the refrigerator's leftovers, but spiritually it was a feast of His good Word.