Digging For Treasure

We were playing outside, the girls and I,and as we approached the corner of the backyard that isn’t used for much I saw something shine a bit. Always up for an adventure, I bent down for a closer look. It was the corner of a glass bottle that was either almost entirely buried or it was a trip to the ER for stitches, so naturally I pushed on it. The object wouldn’t budge. Channeling my inner puppy I began to dig all around it and push it forwards and backwards to see if I could in fact break it loose. At this point the girls are huddled around me bringing all the questions out into the open that were circling inside my head … what is it?… how did it get there?… whose is it?… how long has it been there?

These are some of my favorite times in life because it’s the beginning of a legit organic adventure. You didn’t lift this from Pinterest and you for sure didn’t plant this bad boy because it has been packed in tight for what appears to be many years until this bright day when curious minds saw the glimmmer. We dug and pushed and pulled and though it was just about the height of a pear it had found a soft place to land and had settled in for a long rest. We had to cajole it from it’s slumber with talk of cleaning it and restoring it to it’s intended glory to be admired by we who already found it so lovely. It was covered in dirt and unsure it wanted to be seen, but it came free and was whole and we saw it as the beginning of a fabulous new friendship.

I have three kids and my hubby has a huge job. There are bills to pay and food to prep, laundry to wash and fold and toilets to clean, but this year I have decided to go on an adventure and I want you to come with me. I am going to sit and look at what might be glimmering within me. This will require sitting awhile, because I am used to going from request to demand to sibling drama to errand to chore and quite frankly I have forgotten the art of sitting and looking at my life and seeing what might need a little encouragement to come forth and be seen. With patience and time I’ll see the tiny corner of the thing that needs to be unearthed, and then I’ll poke it and push it a bit to see how much attention it will need to set it free. The one thing I know about this new adventure is that it is not going to be more of the same. I have gifts I want to use that I have allowed to stay dormant to be able to meet the demands around me and I think it might be time to dust some stuff off and see if it still fits. If not, I will take the time to honor that season and turn my energies elsewhere till I see the treasure that is for the here and now. Maybe that thing needs to be poked and prodded and pushed back and forth and at times spoken kindly to to gain the courage to wiggle free from hiding and be seen.

This bottle is legitimately my new favorite thing. We cleaned it off and gave it a ledge in the sun to grow accustomed to it’s new space. My hope is that we will pick a flower and that it will always be full and know we see it and are glad to do so. Like this bottle, there is something within us that may be buried and it may not be easily seen. We may have to go out with flashlights and detectors because it had been buried deep but where I am in life makes me want to shout from the rooftops IT IS WORTH IT. I need it y’all. I am afraid that I let most of the “me” get buried way too deep and though it may take longer than I hope, I look forward to finding the glimmer and beginning to dig.