The dusty green box...

My treasures lie within.

Tonight’s post was meant to be my contribution to Wordless Wednesday, but as I was photographing my subjects – I realised that there was no way that I could post these pics without writing why they mean so much to me. So it’s going to be anything BUT wordless

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Well: A few years ago we were given a pair of beautiful Tiffany champagne flutes as a Christmas gift. They were delicate and dainty and I felt like a princess when I reclined on our plush leather lounger (the only piece of decent furniture we own) whilst sipping some cheap $30 bubbly. But unfortunately, as dainty as these glasses were, they were no match for my clumsiness.

I shattered both of them within days of each other and within weeks of receiving them. I was very upset and it took me quite a while to forgive myself but eventually, I got over it.

But I have kept the box they came in – because I do stuff like that

I keep pretty boxes so that I can store other things in them. It bugs the hell out of my neat-freak minimalist husband but he’s learnt to let me have this one.

See…he’s smart like that!

And I mean come ON…It’s a Tiffany box! That’s waaaay more posh than the usual stuff that gets tossed around here!  So the pretty green box went up on my bookcase awaiting the treasures that would one day fill it.

I once had some perfumed body lotions in it but found it a pain to have to keep taking off the lid every time that I wanted to use them so that failed. And I also tried filling it with my bangles and costume jewellery but I abandoned that for the exact same reason.

Then there was the short-lived phase where I stored our camera and computer cables in it but I kept forgetting where I’d put them! So I gave up and it remained empty for a good 12 months after that.

This box has never meant a lot to me on it’s own because it truly is just cardboard. And I’ve never been particularly attached to it after the contents were removed, but I placed some value on it because it once held something beautiful and it reminded me of that.

And then one day, I received another card in the mail from my best friend (as I do most weeks) and suddenly a light bulb went on in my head!  I knew what I had to do with that box, It all became crystal clear. I needed to fill my special box with something even more special.

My best friend knows how I tick. She knows what I need and goes out of her way to give it to me: I need words.

I need spoken and written encouragement and I need validation. All people need those things but it’s what really makes me feel special.  So she’s been sending me a card every week for the past ..um….well….let’s see…..hmmm…I stopped counting the weeks after 145 so I guess that’s almost 3 years!

And as I was typing this up, my husband arrived home with today’s mail and there was another card for me! Squeeeee!

This is today’s card

Does my Butt look good in this?

And you know what?

I have kept every.single.one of them. Every card she has chosen with love. Every card has been hand selected JUST FOR ME and every one of them holds a special place in my heart.

There are hilarious cards, serious cards, thoughtful cards and a LOT referring to my caffeine habit and now, the green box is almost full to the brim. She has arranged to have them sent to me when she’s been overseas, gets them sent to my Mum’s house when I’m there and has even had her sister hand deliver some to me whenever she’s been down visiting.

That’s over 145 times she has thought of me.

And there have been many days, afternoons and nights when I have been sad or lonely or missing home and I lean over the edge of my bed and pull out the little green Tiffany box. I blow off the dust, sweep away the cobwebs (it’s filthy under my bed) and open it so I can look at, touch and completely immerse myself in my earthly treasures. God gave me such a blessing in this friend. She loves me as Jesus loves me: Unconditionally.

A treasure that runs rings around two silly champagne flutes!

Matthew 6:19-21

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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