IT'S BACK !!!!!!

Wonders never cease! My BIL, Tommy, called me this morning. He got a metal detector for Christmas, and I asked him to help me look for my wayward earring. He said he was on the way over to my house to help me look. So, I went into the sunroom to wait for him. There...RIGHT THERE...lying in the middle of the floor, was my earring!! I'm not lying...it was lying in the middle of my floor. Where did it come from? And where had it been? I have swept that floor several times since I lost it. Everyone uses the sunroom door to enter and exit our house...so that particular path has been walked on many, many times since I lost the earring. It has not been on that floor...before this morning. I am amazed. awed and perplexed!

I know several of you said you would pray for me to find it...and I did, too. I think Kat even said she was looking for a Christmas miracle. Well, it happened! It's back where it rightly belongs....not in my ear yet, cause the clasp is broken...
but in my possession.

I have done a lot of thinking about losing that earring, and about what my
"treasure" really is. We spent a while talking about that yesterday at my mom's. After we opened presents, all 15 of us, it looked like a department store had moved in....a messy one at that. Our family loves giving gifts. We enjoy shopping for one another and looking for just the right surprise. But, as we looked at this abundance yesterday, it was just too much! Mom said she thought we ought to all cut back next year, so as to give more to the needy around the world. We all give to our Christmas offering at church, and help with needs as we see them...but, we can do more. And as a family, we made the commitment yesterday to change our buying habits next year, and find a way to give more to those who are in need. God has blessed our family tremendously, and we will be giving the majority of our Christmas gifts next year to others who need it much more than us.

And, my earring shows up this morning. Pop has always said, "You can not out give God." I thank Him for sending my lost earring home. Was it lost because I had been taking my blessings for granted? Did He need to get my attention? Was He pleased with what He heard from our hearts yesterday as we gathered together? I think He was. And I think He chose today to return my earring to show me just how pleased.
Whether I am correct about that or not, I am newly reminded of my blessings, of the abundance God has chosen to share with our family, and what my treasure really consists of. God is good! And I am grateful...and awed and amazed.