What is one of your treasured possessions? An interviewer recently asked me that question, and at first I wondered if it was a trick. We’re not supposed to “store up for ourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,” are we? I pondered the question for a while and came to the conclusion that I was overanalyzing it. Interviewers are probably just as tired of asking the same old questions as authors are of answering them—so they asked me a new one. And when I think about it, the answer provides a pretty good glimpse into someone’s heart, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I’ve never been a “jewels and furs” kind of woman (to my husband’s great relief) nor do I treasure a closet full of expensive shoes or name-brand clothing. (Where would I ever wear them?) Yet most of us have things that we treasure for a variety of reasons—letters from a loved one, an heirloom trinket, family photographs, or our child’s plaster handprints—things that we would rescue if our house stood in the path of a forest fire. Their value doesn’t come from any monetary worth, but from what they mean to us. So here are three of my treasures:
This is my great-great-grandmother’s “crying cup” from Germany. I remember drinking from it at my grandmother’s house when I was a child, and she told me she remembered drinking from it at her grandmother’s house. I featured it in my novel Eve’s Daughters, and my publisher even included a picture of it on the book cover. Grandma would let me drink from it whenever I was crying or upset, and my tears would “magically” go away. It worked every time. The cup reminds me that our sorrow is easier to bear when it’s shared with someone we love.
This is my great grandmother’s clock. I’ve seen enough of these clocks in antiques stores to know that it wouldn’t bring $Big Buck$ on “Antiques Roadshow.” When my great-grandfather bought it in 1896, it cost $5 in the Sears Roebuck catalogue. I treasure the clock because it was his gift to my great-grandmother on the day my grandmother was born. I picture great-grandma lying in bed, exhausted after giving birth, holding her new baby in her arms, and in walks her proud husband with a gift for her—a clock! (Doesn’t every new mother long for a clock?) At least she would know what time it was when she woke up in the middle of the night to feed the baby. And maybe he wanted to remind her—and me—how fleeting time is, and that we need to treasure the hours we spend with loved ones.
This is an ancient oil lamp more than 2,700 years old. The little clay bowl doesn’t look like much, but it sits on display in a place of prominence in my office. I bought it when I traveled to Israel and worked as a volunteer on an archaeological dig for a month to research my first book, Gods and Kings. The novel retells the biblical story of King Hezekiah, and I wanted a souvenir from his time period— 700 BC. I bought it in an antiquities shop in Jerusalem that is licensed to authenticate and sell artifacts. What amazes me is that the lamp has remained intact for so many centuries. Jerusalem was completely destroyed twice during those centuries—once by the Babylonians in 586 BC and again by the Romans in 70 AD. Yet this simple clay oil lamp managed to survive. It also survived my three active children, numerous curious pets, and at least three long-distance moves. The lamp sits where I can see it every day to remind myself of Jesus’ words: “You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
So . . . what is one of your treasured possessions? (It’s not a “trick” question.)
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I have collection of Santas. I love my kneeling Santa where he kneels before Jesus in the manger.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kneeling Santa, Shirley. What a wonderful statement it makes about Christmas. Love it!
I loved this post, Lynn. I think Christians are sometimes afraid to call material things “treasures,” and yet it’s the perfect word for some legitimate things we do treasure…because of what they represent. Among my earthly treasures are my mother’s Jack and Jill pottery baby dish, a polka-dot mixing bowl set that was my maternal grandmother’s, a blue teapot that was my paternal grandmother’s, and an ornately calligraphed Sunday School certificate that was presented to my maternal great-grandmother when she was a child. I also have a phonograph record of my great-grandfather singing “Turkey in the Straw” and “I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.” Treasures all! Though never as much a treasure as the people they belonged to and the memories and legacy they represent. Loved seeing your treasures, and especially love the little oil lamp! Amazing to touch something so ancient!
Your treasures sound amazing, Deborah. How blessed you are to have so many remembrances of your family. No wonder you “treasure” them!
I so enjoyed learning about some of your treasures, Lynn! I inherited my great grandmother’s gold wedding band, which I use as my own wedding band now. My grandmother used to serve up tea parties for us using tiny demitasse cups that were all different and acquired by her on her travels over the years. I have one now. I cherish the outfits my children wore home from the hospital as well as the tiny dress I wore home when I was a newborn. Our engagement portrait is very special to me. And I love all the photo albums I’ve slowly amassed over the years.
Great topic!
Wonderful treasures, Becky! You probably think of your grandmother every time you see her little demitasse cup. How fun!
my most treasured possesion is a ceramaic pan that my great grandfather gave me just before he died at 102
That sounds interesting, Shelia! What was the secret to his long life?
My most treasured possession is the pink Precious Moments Bible my parents gave me when I was young. I have had many Bibles since that one, but when I’m really struggling with something or just plain having a bad day, I pull out my old favorite and flip through the pages, reading bits here and there and scanning my notes and underlined sections. God got me through a lot with that Book, and that’s probably why I go back to it during times of high stress.
Blessings,
Andrea
How wonderful, Andrea. That Bible is a REAL treasure! I also have a Bible that my grandparents gave me for my 12th birthday. I have to handle it carefully because the covers are falling off.
Lynn, that’s when you know you’ve treasured (and used it) well. 🙂
A very good article about your most treasured thing and the importance that material things are not always important to a persons life.
You’re right, Chris. My memories are more precious to me than any material possessions.
I enjoyed your post, Lynn, and seeing some of your special treasures. 🙂
I have a lovely dresser and chair set that belonged to my grandmother (who was born in 1886), so that furniture would be over 100 years old now. It’s not a very big set, but the dresser has a lovely triple-mirror, and I like to imagine my grandmother sitting there as a young girl, brushing her hair.
Too bad furniture cannot speak – – what stories we might all hear if these older pieces could tell us what they’ve seen!
That’s so true, Patti Jo! I wish it could talk. I have one of my great-grandmother’s dining room chairs, and I often wonder how many people have sat in it for a meal.
One of my most treasured items, is a Christmas tree that belonged to my grandmother. My GaGa had purchase the seventeen inch, decorated, wind up, musical tree with reindeers dancing around it, at Sears and Roebuck in the early sixty’s. I remember every Christmas she had it on her coffee table with fake snow around it. We were allowed to look, but don’t touch.
Now I have the tree with the same box it came in. And now I’m the Grandmother making the new memories for my grandkids. But no fake snow… .
One of the things that I treasure most is the Bible my paternal grandfather used to teach Sunday School. He died in 1990 just short of his 99th birthday. He used this Bible to teach Sunday School from the time he was 18 in WWI until he was 95. I have my paternal grandmother’s tatting shuttle and the last remaining cup to her china. I have quilts that were quilted for wedding present for me, one by each grandmother.