As I was growing up, our family would travel each Christmas day to my grandparent’s country home in West Texas. My aunts, uncles and cousins would meet us there for a grand time of celebration at the “most wonderful time of the year”.
During those days I, along with a couple of my cousins, would explore the area’s cow pastures, creeks and country store. (Real country store. Not the Cracker Barrel type.)
Another thing we boys enjoyed was investigating old abandoned houses out in the middle of nowhere. It was fun to imagine earlier days and what the family life must have been like in those old homes.
One such house was especially interesting. It had obviously been abandoned for a long, long time. There was no paint remaining on the exterior and the roof, apparently, had been sagging for years. As we walked through its creaking halls and rooms we took a look under the decaying wallpaper in the living room. We were surprised to find old newspapers plastered on the walls underneath the faded covering. We surmised that the newspaper had been used as insulation when the wallpaper was installed to help prevent the cold from entering the house through the old crudely constructed boarded walls.
The newspapers got our attention. They were filled with articles and ads of years much earlier. It was fascinating to read!
Thinking back on that old house brings some sayings to mind such as, “It’s what’s inside that counts.” and “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Sometimes God’s richest treasures are just below the surface. I don’t want to be satisfied with what is seen but seek deeper things that can only be explained by God’s activity!
“Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God!”
Psalm 20:7
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