Digging for Cheerios

OK, so I'm cleaning my couch yesterday and of course with kids ranging in age from 13 to 3 in the house I expected to find some treasures buried in the couch, but not to this extent! It turns out that when I went to do my usual hand sweep I found that my hand went in farther then I before ... a lot farther! Wow was there stuff back there! Crazy!

I ended up taking a picture because I thought it was too funny not to send my wife but then my mind started going toward my life, and God. I thought of those areas in my life, my soul, my deepest cracks that sometimes I don't even know are there, and I thought of what is hiding in them.

Garbage? Sure ... a lot of that. In fact Marceen pointed out to me that since it was a couch we got from a friend of ours, and I found the couches' "secret hiding spot" that some of that stuff wasn't even ours. It's garbage that we've carried over from someone else ... or to put it in a life perspective; baggage.

It reminds me of what I'm stuffing in my cracks may be garbage that I'm carrying from others in my life ... the chips on our shoulder perhaps.

But you know what I also found? A few treasures ... a few memories ... that when you pull them out you can't help but smile. Like pulling out a toy that makes you think of that smiling giggling child holding it! Or even the cheerio that makes me think of those precious faces sitting on the couch watching them eat as they talk, play, or watch TV ... good stuff ... really good stuff!

I don't know about you, but I'm going to live a life that stuffs cheerios in every crack ... so that when I need them, I can always search and find an old memory that reminds me of how blessed I have been. Yes, garbage will accumulate ... however my prayer is that I will continue to clean that out, give it to Him, but hold on to the blessings and be thankful!

If I'm honest it also makes me sad thinking of that day when I'm cleaning my couch and I don't find anything but maybe a lonely receipt, or a couple coins ... but no toys ... no cheerios ... because they're all too old to play with toys ... *sigh* ... but that's OK ... that's what He's teaching me ... to enjoy the cheerios while they're there ... and who knows ... God willing I hope as a grandpa to fill those couches again!!! =)

So if you'll excuse me I need to do some housekeeping ... I'm digging for cheerios!

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3 (NLT)

~Matthew