When I moved, my old antique clock lost one of its spindles.  I called the mover and (surprise) he found it in the cab of the truck!!!  I told him to take it to my daughter-in-law Stacy's business.  So he did.  And they mailed it to me two months ago.  But it never arrived.

Well, Stacy called yesterday and said that the package was (finally) returned to them in shreds.  It has been two months since it was lost.  I didn't think I would ever see it again.  I told Stacy to keep it and I will pick it up some day.  I'm not going to trust the U.S.Postal Service again.  It is one of those things that can't be replaced.  I am so glad that it has been found.

It is just a pretty thing.  I don't wind the clock up because it dings every fifteen minutes and drives me nuts.  Especially at night.  But I love to look at it and wonder about who made it.  Who carved the wood.  It was done by hand, not milled by machine.

I am a sucker for carved walnut.  I can't even imagine the talent that it took to do such a thing as carve the casing for a clock.  Not counting the mechanical workings inside.  God gives us different gifts.  He makes us into something pleasing to Him.  Every talent we have is a gift from Him.

I have a lot of "things."  Useless, unnecessary, but pretty.  And the things that I like, nobody in my family wants.  It's junk to them.  So when I started packing to move, those were the things that I packed first--because I didn't need any of them.  And those are the things that I still haven't unpacked--because they are trivial and not necessary.   I am finding that as I open some of those boxes, I don't really want to mess with most of the stuff inside.  I feel lighter.  Less encumbered.   The only reason to keep something is because it belonged to someone I loved.  A remembrance.

Those are memories that I want to keep.  To look at.  To remind me of the wonderful people that God gave me.  How blessed I am.