My Children, the Squirrels

Today I vacuumed out our van.  It took me almost an hour…and it’s just a minivan.  Part of the reason (actually, most of the reason) it took that long is because my children had squirreled away books, left over snacks, socks and shoes in the back seat.  It’s as though they wanted to be prepared for spending the rest of the fall in the van.  The most amazing part to me is that I vacuumed up more than 15 walnut/acorn/tree nuts.  I’m pretty sure that there is another one hiding away somewhere, too.

Of course, I am somewhat like my children.  I like to be prepared.  I keep extra socks and shoes for my two oldest in the van in case they decide to leave the house without footwear (which has happened more than once).  I also have diapers and wipes stored away, lest we accidentally forget to stock the diaper bag/backpack.

Speaking of our diaper bag, you should see what I’ve put in there!  Diapers, wipes, extra outfits for four children, books, toys, extra snacks, pens and pencils.  And then there’s my stuff.  Since I have to tote a backpack, I’ve decided to stop carrying a purse.  So, all the things that once resided in my purse also are crammed into the backpack.

While it is good to be prepared, I had a revelation as I was vacuuming.  In Bible class on Sunday, one of our friends reminded us that we should be squirrelling away more than just things.  He encouraged us to keep Bible passages at our fingertips.  Or, more specifically, at the tip of our memories.  And, just knowing a verse, without the reference, wasn’t enough for him.  He pointed out that we need to be able to open our Bibles and show those references to the people we come in contact with.

And so, for the first time in much, much too long, I’ve set about doing just that: squirrelling away treasures from the Bible.  I don’t have the fancy smart phone app that our friend suggested using (mostly because I don’t have a smart phone).  But, I do have a Bible and time to repeat a verse again and again.  So here it is:  Psalm 50:15—Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.

I hope you have some time to start doing some squirrelling of your own.  Maybe you can cheat (like I did) and learn your kids’ memory passages with them.  Or, maybe you have a part of the Bible you want to know better.  But, there’s nothing better than to have God’s word hidden away in your heart and memory.