Friends,

Wednesday I was in a place for about 6 hours straight of hearing just pure trash. It was hard. It was gross, and it was disheartening. It was reality.

I was doing my monthly duty of community service with serving on the Grand Jury. Believe me, there was nothing “GRAND” about it.

I went in yesterday with expectations of just “get it done!”

Then, I realized something drastic…how many people spent so much time investigating all those cases and also even the families of the victims that depended on us to hear the evidence and decide whether these cases should go to court.

This got personal all of a sudden. These cases began to have faces, and emotions.

The emotion that ran through my head was this…I was overwhelmed with gratitude toward all the policemen, state patrol officers, investigators, detectives, and the sheriff’s department that serves the community in which I live so that I can sleep at night, send my kids to a safe school, and live a protected life.

I suddenly took my job yesterday a little more seriously.

Do you ever wonder if that is sometimes how God thinks…I am sure He wishes that we took His place in our lives a little more seriously. The fact that he has so much of our lives in the palm of His hands. He protects us to the fullest extent – even more times than we can begin to fathom.

By the end of my day, I was SO willing to trade the Trash that I was listening to for the Treasure I had at home and with my life in Jesus. That is what seemed so hard…all those stories…I am sure that so many didn’t know my Jesus.

Get this… God already knew what my day was going to be like. He knew the trash that I was going to encounter, but He meant for this experience to be apart of my day. Here is the devotional that I read yesterday morning, having no idea what I was going to experience yesterday:

From Jesus Calling:
“Before you arise from your bed in the morning, I have already arranged the events of your day. Every day provides many opportunities for you to learn My ways and grow closer to Me. Signs of My Presence brighten even the dullest day when you have eyes that really see. Search for Me as for hidden treasure. I will be found by you.”

That blew me out of the water this morning as I revisited it!

When I did a word search on YouVersion I found these scriptures on the word TREASURE:

Proverbs 2:1
“My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.”

Do we listen to what He says in His Word for us to do?

Colossians 2:3
“In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

The BIGGEST treasure we have is His Son Jesus, His Word, and His Holy Spirit!

Job 23:12
“I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.”

Have you treasured your time with sitting before the Lord today thanking Him for all the many blessings you have? No matter how bad things get we still have Blessings abundantly!

Last night, while trying to decompress the days activities, I listened to this song. I heard it the first time actually sung by Chris Tomlin at his amazing church in Atlanta called Passion City Church. Amazing worship before the Lord!

I pray this becomes your song to God this morning and if you haven’t already done so, invite Him into your life so that all things that are trash can turn into treasure.

Here For You by Chris Tomlin – at Passion Conference 2011

Thanks for letting me decompress with you! YOU ARE A TREASURE!