Dear Friends,
When do you know it’s time to treasure the moment before you? It isn’t always easy to do. Too often for me I realize it well after the event is over. Twice in the second chapter of the Gospel according to Luke we find Mary “treasured” the things before her in the moment they were happening.
The first happened after the shepherds had visited the Mary, Joseph and the newly arrived Messiah who was lying in the manger. She had given birth. She had been visited by shepherds who had come at the directive of an angelic choir. This was not the ordinary way for motherhood to begin. This was not what Mary expected of her life. So there, in the midst of the unexpected, “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” (v.19)
The second came around the time her Jesus was about 12 years old. Mary and Joseph had left Jerusalem after a festival, thinking their child was with a relative, only to realize they had left him in Jerusalem. When they finally meet up with him, he is teaching the religious leaders at the temple. It was an amazing thing, to which Mary responds by, “treasuring all these things in her heart.” (v.51b)
This morning I found myself treasuring the moments. My daughter was at the breakfast table with me. That doesn’t happen often. And though the earbuds were in and we didn’t exchange too many words, there she was! At the table! With me! Treasure the moment.
Tonight we will have dinner guests, which is a fancy way to say that my mother-in-law, my mother and my sister will be coming for dinner. My sister is feeling really good right now. This will be the second meal we have shared together in the past seven days. Treasure the moment.
Last night at our simple worship we were having a discussion about the cost of being too busy. It was interactive, and the children (did you hear that!), the children felt invited to add to the conversation. And it was out of the mouth of an elementary-age girl that God spoke the truth to us last night. Treasure the moment.
How will you treasure the moment? Keep your eyes and your heart open to what is right in front of you today. Look with the eyes of Mary at the people around you. See what rich treasure God has placed right before you, one that you can soak in at the very moment it is happening. See how God is blessing you deeply.
Treasuring the moments with you,
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink
When do you know it’s time to treasure the moment before you? It isn’t always easy to do. Too often for me I realize it well after the event is over. Twice in the second chapter of the Gospel according to Luke we find Mary “treasured” the things before her in the moment they were happening.
The first happened after the shepherds had visited the Mary, Joseph and the newly arrived Messiah who was lying in the manger. She had given birth. She had been visited by shepherds who had come at the directive of an angelic choir. This was not the ordinary way for motherhood to begin. This was not what Mary expected of her life. So there, in the midst of the unexpected, “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” (v.19)
The second came around the time her Jesus was about 12 years old. Mary and Joseph had left Jerusalem after a festival, thinking their child was with a relative, only to realize they had left him in Jerusalem. When they finally meet up with him, he is teaching the religious leaders at the temple. It was an amazing thing, to which Mary responds by, “treasuring all these things in her heart.” (v.51b)
This morning I found myself treasuring the moments. My daughter was at the breakfast table with me. That doesn’t happen often. And though the earbuds were in and we didn’t exchange too many words, there she was! At the table! With me! Treasure the moment.
Tonight we will have dinner guests, which is a fancy way to say that my mother-in-law, my mother and my sister will be coming for dinner. My sister is feeling really good right now. This will be the second meal we have shared together in the past seven days. Treasure the moment.
Last night at our simple worship we were having a discussion about the cost of being too busy. It was interactive, and the children (did you hear that!), the children felt invited to add to the conversation. And it was out of the mouth of an elementary-age girl that God spoke the truth to us last night. Treasure the moment.
How will you treasure the moment? Keep your eyes and your heart open to what is right in front of you today. Look with the eyes of Mary at the people around you. See what rich treasure God has placed right before you, one that you can soak in at the very moment it is happening. See how God is blessing you deeply.
Treasuring the moments with you,
Pastor Becky Jo Messenbrink
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