A Hope Chest

When Jerry and I planted 50 daffodil bulbs last fall, I was hoping for a knockout display this Spring. It's not quite a knockout, but I'm sure pleased to see they lived!

 "The secret of your own heart you can never know; but you can know him who knows its secret." George MacDonald, 1824-1905

Did you have a hope chest when you were young? I remember being given one as a teenager. It was to hold items for when I had a household, when I married or for blankets and such.

"Hope chests go back in time to Egyptian pharaohs who used these chests to preserve ancient treasures of gold and writings on papyrus. Some speculate that its origin evolved from the ark of the covenant." Franklin Graham

Our new Magnolia Jane's survived the winter and just started blooming yesterday. So pleased to see my favorite tree alive and well! And the dandelions are coming up too! I remember last spring seeing lawns and fields covered with dandelions. They don't pull them up or try and kill them here. Those yellow fields were quite attractice!

In Franklin Graham's new book, Through My Father's Eyes, he speaks about hope chests in the last chapter titled, Legacy. "The human heart is a type of cedar chest, storing valuable lessons, special memories, and the important pieces of one's life that live on throughout generations."

I enjoyed reading his description of the heart being a hope chest and want to share some of his words: "Are we building reserves of faith, hope, and love? . . . Are we amassing eternal treasure that will live forever in the hope chest of our heart? . . . Is your heart a store house for eternal treasures? Is your mind filled with the testimony of what God has done in you?"

Interesting analogy. He provided words to consider. My hope chest now holds some blankets and sweatshirts. I love every Fall to open it and take out the sweatshirts! And now that I've started creating quilted items, they can be stored in Jerry's aunt's hope chest, which we received a few years ago.

 But what about my heart hope chest? Am I using it to hold reserves of faith, hope and love? Am I amassing eternal treasures that will live forever?

I've only been out two times this year, early morning, so I haven't found many things to photograph. I did love the fog around the trees in this early morning snap.

I think about this verse regarding the heart: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

A former music minister, Pastor Scott, from Westminster Baptist, MD, shared this translation: "More than all else, to be watched over and protected (as something in a confined place) it is imperative that you preserve and keep your heart sensitive; because from within it comes divine direction for your life."
 
"When God opens the book of life--the heavenly treasure chest . . . He will find it filled with souls redeemed by His blood--and He will smile." Franklin Graham

I liked reading a statement Billy Graham said in a book written by his photographer through the ministry: God's Ambassador. It always makes me smile because when I was saved I said a similar thing. This is what he said after he gave his heart to God: "Oh God, I don't understand all of this. I don't know what's happening to me. But as best as I can figure out, I have given myself to you."

Walking home the night I was saved, I said to God: "I'm not sure what I have done, but I believe in you and think I've made the right decision. Help me know the way." Sometimes I've thought maybe that was a strange thing to say after being saved. Maybe instead I should have just been jumping around with excitement and joy! But I wasn't. It was a very solemn thing for me. So Billy Graham's words really made my heart smile!

"God has two dwellings: one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart."

Izaak Walton, 1593-1683