Our Treasure (1Jn 2:15-17)

God owns all our great "treasurers," regardless of what we consider to be "valuables." Our talent, our time, and our resources all belong to Him. Our responsibility and goal should be to manage these treasures wisely and invest them as He provides.

We are expected to help meet our own needs with what the Lord provides from His unlimited "storehouse." Philippians 4:19, for example, tells us "God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Some people have interpreted this as a license to wait idly upon the Lord and to do nothing for themselves. But Scripture is clear when it speaks of toiling for six days and resting on the Sabbath (Ex 20:9-10). Most of our basic needs are met through our jobs, so it's wise to invest our time and talents in gainful employment.

Furthermore, God wants us to use our resources to help others regardless of whether their poverty is financial, spiritual, or emotional. The best way to be helpful is by promoting God's work in our community and around the world. If you see a need, see if you can meet that need. Jesus commanded that His followers preach the gospel and disciple younger or newer believers. A portion of what we have ~ our time, talent, and money ~ should be devoted to reaching the lost, because there is simply no greater need anywhere. The Lord's work also includes seeing that people are clothed, stomachs are full, and hearts are mended ~ these, too, are worthy biblical causes.

We can't lay claim to any of our talents; they all belong to God. The riches He places in our hands should be held loosely and invested wisely. To be good stewards of all that the Lord has given to us, we, in turn, must be willing to give up easily and freely; with no strings attached.

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Not the most interesting blog today or maybe it's just me. Must have sounded important when I wrote it. And I think it's a little shorter than usual too. My friend, Ginny, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl early Sunday morning. You can check out Beatrix's beauty by logging onto http://smallthingswithgreatlove. blogspot.com. I feel just like a proud grandma again! No kidding; I do!

I really need to get some housework done today but if I were a betting person, I'd bet not much will get done. I'm just not in the mood and my shoulder is killing me again today. I woke up with a bum left shoulder yesterday and it's taking its own sweet time about clearing up. The biggest problem with growing old is all the aches and pains for seemingly no reason at all. You just wake up every morning with pain somewhere on your body. Oh well, at least I know I'm still alive when I'm hurting somewhere.

I have no real plans for the day until this evening. I have prayer meeting at 5:00 followed by my knitting group at 6:00. I've got three knitting projects that I'd like to do so I have done my preliminary gauge swatches. (Is that the right word I'm after?) Anyway I got all of them done and none of them are the size they are supposed to be which may mean that I'll need to go down in needle size since they're all bigger than they are supposed to be. Only problem I have is that I don't have a smaller needle than the one I used. So that may mean a trip up the mountain to buy one at the only yarn shop anywhere near me. I haven't been up there in years so I'd like to drive up. But I'd like to do it sometime when I have lots of money and can buy lots of things instead of making the trip for just one item. I just want to make something besides scarves. That's all I've done for a couple years now. I picked out the most gorgeous pair of baby booties I want to knit and I've got the perfect yarn for them. This is yarn that I bought at least 15 years ago but the color is so unreal. It's like looking a something green within a block of ice. Does that make sense? It's green but it's not really green. It's like looking at something green through ice. That's the best way I can describe the color. If you saw a strand of the yarn by itself you'd think it was white yarn. But look at the entire skein and you can see the green hidden inside the yarn. I've never seen a color of yarn using that technique. They will be beautiful booties when I get them done but I'm using a #3 needle and that's the smallest I go down to. I may need to buy a #2 or even a #1 to get my swatch the correct size. Then after I get that done I will need to figure out how to read the pattern. You know, when I knitted years ago I didn't have any problem reading the patterns or doing any of the stitches. I didn't have anyone helping me; I did it all by myself. When I learned how to knit when I was 15 years old, I learned how to hold my yarn and needles, how to do the knit and purl stitches and how to cast off and on and I taught myself how to do everything else I needed to know. I had a small book with diagrams and illustrations and text to describe what to do and I figured everything out. I made a couple really nice afghans that required an entire range of stitches and combinations of stitches and a vest that I knitted but never got put together plus dozens of house slippers. I knew how to do all this. And then I didn't knit for15 years and I've forgotten how to do almost everything. And the book I used before to teach myself how to knit is no where to be found. All I can think is that the book was with a big bag of yarn and yarn pieces that I sold at a yardsale when I didn't think I would be knitting any more. But I kept all my needles, figure that one out. But I do remember selling all that yarn and my book must have been in that bag of yarn. It just makes me sick that I've forgotten how to read patterns and do the more complicated stitches and it makes me sick to lose that book. It's that old saying: Use it or lose it. But some how I managed to save the skein of "ice" yarn and it will make beautiful booties if I can ever figure out how to read the pattern.

The weather has been beautiful this past week. Cold at night and warm during the day. Just perfect weather. The Fall trees are a bit past their prime but they are still beautiful splashes of color around town. My yard is desperately in need of a raking. What a mess! But I don't plan on getting out there anytime soon and doing something about it. Not until my shoulder is better. Lots better.

I guess I should get busy and do something. M and I, neither one, seem to have an abundance of energy today. Maybe the changing seasons are catching up with me. For some reason I just felt drained of energy for the past few days. All I seem to want to do lately is sleep. I took two short naps yesterday and it felt soooooooo good. I laid down and slept about 20 mins and then I got up and did a few things and then since M was still sleeping in the bedroom, I laid back down on the couch and slept for another 20 mins. Two short naps felt really good but I did feel a little guilty. I don't think I'll hesitate to do a repeat of yesterday if by chance M decides to lie down again today but I'll try to nix the guilty feelings.

I guess I'm going to let this be it for today. I need to get up and around and get busy doing something. Anything! I just called the yarn shop to see exactly where they are located and I got a recording that it is no longer a working number. So they must have gone out of business. Guess that takes care of those tentative plans. Well I'm going to go get busy doing something. See you next time...