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This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to have been part of a different treasure kind. My church had been in touch with a group in the mountains of western West Virginia that helps some really destitute people in that area. We had collected a whole medium size truck full of everything from shoes, boots, shirts, blouses, sweaters, gloves, food items, bottled water, afghans, blankets, toys for the kids and even a couple of bicycles. Everything was either new or like new, there was no junk. One of the local businesses donated the truck, and one of our church members works there and was doing the driving. Another business donated the gas. A total of 10 of us went along with the truck in the lead and two vans. We kept in touch with cell phones and by radio. We left at about 5:30 am and got there a little after noon. We ran into snow and most of the way up there was with the temperature ranging from 32 to 28 degrees. When we arrived there was about 4" of snow on the ground. Where we went was several miles up in a narrow and winding gravel road with a sheer drop on one side and a rock face on the other. We made it without mishap though and got everything unloaded intact and with no problems. The place where we unloaded was a large one car garage, and it was mostly empty when we arrived, and it was full when we finished. Of course we had to get in a big snowball fight before we loaded up to start home. After stopping in Beckley, W.VA, to eat we started back. The roads were mostly clear coming back and we finally got home about 8:00 pm. We were all tired, but we all felt good about what we had done, and still do!

That was a treasure of the heart, something for the good of someone else. We may never see those we helped, but that doesn't matter. We included several Bibles as well and we know God's word will not return void....and THAT is the REAL treasure!

Merry CHRISTmas to you and yours, from me and mine!