Treasured

Call me a pirate if you wish, but I choose to spend my life searching for and storing up treasures. Once I find them I like to tightly secure them inside the locker of my heart. Sometimes I share my treasures with others and sometimes I keep them under tight lock and key only to be seen by the Father and myself. Over the past year and half since my sweet Ashley Kate has been born I have found myself gathering my "loot" as never before. The treasures I seek are far more valuable than silver or gold, and they sparkle so much more than coins or jewels. Sometimes it seems as though my valuables just fall into my lap, and other times it may take me years of planning or teaching to come across them. Never the less they are each priceless pieces stored inside my heart.

God has richly blessed me. He has blessed me with more than I could ever earn and much more than I deserve to have. The locker of my heart is overflowing at this time in my life. When I looked at this picture of my beautiful treasure Allison I quickly locked the memory of this moment inside. How precious she has become. To see this little girl whose has grown and matured into a young lady right before our eyes is truly a treasure. To have the opportunity to know her, to love her, and to parent her is a gift that has been given by the Father and I wouldn't trade my time with her for anything the world could offer. I am rich!

Tonight I sat in our home and silently gathered an arm full to add to my treasure. Kind words shared between Blake and his sister Allie, compassion shown to our sweet Ashley from Allie as she struggled with her therapy, laughter and giggles coming from all as we played a board game around our dining room table, Allison's silly sense of humor as she announced, "I didn't know we had a dog" (she was referring to her dad's hairy legs that her foot brushed against under the table), squishy cheerios that our Ashley Kate is trying to learn to like, a sweet conversation between the girls as they sat and played in the middle of my bed, "Thanks, mom. No, really THANK YOU!" as Blake discovered his favorite ice cream in the freezer tonight. As I said, my arms were full tonight as I quickly stuffed each valuable piece into my heart.

To watch my Ashley today as she stood completely weight bearing in her stander with a SMILE on her face was a priceless moment. I snapped picture after picture not realizing I didn't have a card in the camera. As we repeated her therapy tonight she wasn't quite as happy. By the second time she had figured out it wasn't really a game, but the proud smiles on Blake and Allie's faces as they watched her stand for the first time was a treasure. They believe in her and their love for this baby is so valuable to us.

The amount of time we are given with our children is unknown. The number of days we have to make memories with them or to make an impact on their hearts is uncertain. Playing on the beach, feeding seagulls, throwing a baseball, sharing a bowl of ice cream, building blocks on her pallet, listening to their dreams spill out of their hearts, playing board games together, tucking them in, singing Jesus loves me for the hundredth time to her, praying with them before they fall asleep, are all treasured moments that I am locking inside of my heart.

Ash is still struggling today. Feeling yucky and not able to keep anything down. I pray that it will all pass by morning and she will begin to rebound from it all. She is almost ready for bed and its my job to cuddle her until she gives up and closes her eyes. So I am off to steal one more piece of treasure before today is over. Thank you for your continued prayers and your words of encouragement. She gets stronger everyday. Good night and God bless you. Trish