Treasures

On Labor Day, our four children spent the day working. But, it was fun labor....for the most part! They spent the day getting entries ready for the county fair, which was this past weekend.

They made cookies, bread, biscuits, crafts of all kinds, drew pictures, painted items, glued, cut, and on and on. Plus, they washed, dried, clipped and walked their goats.

By the end of the fair,  they had many ribbons and even some trophies. The funny thing is that the day before, we had given a box full of trophies BACK to the trophy store for them to recycle. And when the county extension supervisor needed some 1st place ribbons during the livestock show part of the fair, she knew she could take ours off of our winning entries and recycle them by giving them to others. Why? Well, it's simple, really. Trophies and ribbons are neat, but they are not what matter in life. No, not at all. What matters in life is that we serve God. That we live to please God. And that we store up treasures in Heaven, not here on earth. (Matthew 6:19-21)

We take pictures of the kids awards so they can look at them later on and can show them to their own children. They keep their trophies or plaques from their goats or other events for a year, but then we take the fronts off of them and give them back to the store to be used again. There are a few that mean a little more to them or to me and we keep those, but it's only a few.

I've talked about 4-H and FFA before and how I believe they are GREAT organizations for kids.  Many of you may not realize that even home-schooled children can participate in 4-H and it's for ages 9 through 18 years old.  4-H and FFA help teach children responsibility, leadership, citizenship, and many other things.  It's not about winning ribbons and trophies or plaques.  It's about teaching children to do their best  and to work hard.  It's about doing what's right and about serving and helping others...putting others before ourselves. Kind of reminds me of a GOOD BOOK I've read a lot, doesn't it you???  (Yes, the Bible!)

W want our children to learn from their experiences and activities how to live more like Christ and how to better serve God.  We don't want their goal in life to be how many awards they receive.  On this Gratituesday,  (Hosted by Laura at Heavenly Homemakers), I am grateful for treasures, but treasures in Heaven - not on earth.