The Treasure Challenge

Find the treasures in each day!

I thought of this from a book I read to my class—the boy was disappointed when it was rainy and he couldn’t fly his new kite, and then when the weather cleared, he was sick and couldn’t go out to fly the kite. He found the treasures that God put in each day—he had time to think of a name for his kite, he had time to read about kites, and he enjoyed putting the kite together.

I gave myself a challenge of finding treasures in each day. Some days are not what I would have liked: That lesson did not flow as I planned; This child has a pile of unfinished work and seemingly no motivation to finish; It is another gray and rainy day; I am tired, cold, worried, etc. What treasures can I find?

1. Friday—my treasure is the lovely snow we had this morning!
2. Saturday—the treasure was sleeping in and then having a nap in the afternoon.
3. Sunday—the little note with random letters, presented to me by a Sunday School student
4. Monday—the pictures and notes given to me by my students, and the pictures from their little siblings, too
5. The treasure of humor: As my students were making Christmas cards for their parents, Shana offered to write “Merry Christmas” on the board. I was busy with something else, so agreed that she could do that. I realized later, after the children had copied from the board, that they were writing “Marry Christmas” in their cards. J
6. The treasure of scripture—the verse that comes to mind just when needed. “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12
7. “Can I do something for you?” asks Kaylie, and she willingly cleans up a big mess of stickers and cards. This is a treasure!
8. My administrator taking time to advise me.
9. Coming home to a clean house!
10. Tuesday’s treasure: the sunshine!
11. Treasure of encouragement—Finding this in a student’s “I Am Thankful” book: “I am thankful for school.”

After I read the book to my class, we talked about being thankful and having gratitude on all kinds of days. We thought of things we are thankful for and I wrote them with Sharpie around the sides of a pumpkin.

Some other ideas for recording treasures:

• Write the treasures on sticky notes and deposit them in a treasure chest. (I have a small tin chest—probably an antique, which is colorful with gold accents and fascinating to my students. They like to put the notes in it.)
• Post notes of treasures on a bulletin board.
• Discuss finding treasures in each day and serve Hershey’s Treasures candy. Make cookies with treasures in them—wrap the dough around a bite-size Snicker’s bar and bake. Find treasures in the day as you eat the cookies and discover the candy treasure inside.
• Realize the Bible is a book full of treasures and share verses that are treasures.
• Tell stories that have treasures—little lessons, surprise endings, or nuggets of truth.

Take the challenge to find treasures in each day and keep a running list of your treasures. On a rough day refer to the list and remind yourself of these treasures—blessings that God puts in each day!

The book that we read: God Cares When I’m Thankful, by Elspeth Campbell Murphy, 1983, David C. Cook Publishing Co. Elgin, IL 60120