You've got to dig through a lot of trash to find the treasure.

Life Lesson of the Day:

You've got to dig through a lot of trash to find the treasure.

My Grandmother, Olive MacNeill - one of the sweetest ladies to walk the earth - had lost a pair of earrings.

These weren't just any pair of earrings though, these were a pair that my Bubba, Thane MacNeill, had bought for her on her 60th birthday and went with her matching set of jewellery. She has worn them everyday for the last 13 years, being especially sure to wear them over the last six years since my Bubba passed away to remember him everyday. She lost them about two weeks prior to us getting here and was obviously frazzled by it as she told us they were missing within five minutes of walking through the door. Over the few days we've been here we have all taken turns looking all over the house, in all the obvious (and not so obvious) places. Finally I decided to look through her trash and recycling.

So I got into some grubby clothes, said a prayer, and threw on my iPod.

As I was elbow deep in garbage that's been collected over the last two weeks, something dawned on me...

That this is what God does for us. 

We come before Him as sinners, full of garbage and crap and He sits there and patiently goes through it all, piece by piece, seeking to separate the trash from the treasure.

He created the good in us.

He desires that we use the gifts He's given us and not let them get lost in the "trash" of this life. 

Jesus - by sacrificing Himself for us on the cross - made it possible for God to even gaze into our lives and move around the trash so that the treasure and precious parts of us that He created and loves so dearly could be made visible.

When He humbled himself to wash the disciples feet, He was cleaning the "garbage" and dirt off of them and making them new and clean. 

That is what we are called to do... If God - Creator of the Universe - could send His Son to humble himself and serve sinners like me, how could I be too good for it? 

Needless to say, the earrings were found.

I don't know if my Grandmother has ever hugged me so tight.

Seeing the joy that finding them brought to my Grandma only further reminded me of the joy God feels when we turn away from our garbage and seek Him first as our heavenly treasure. 

It was a quick lesson, but one I pray I won't soon forget.

I hope to always remember the sacrifice that Christ made and the patience that He has with me... That in turn I can show that grace and patience to those around me, being a witness for Christ in all I do.