Hidden Treasures

by Louise Tucker Jones

Back in the early 70s, my late husband, Carl, accepted a job at a new company, which offered him a better position. At the time, we were renting a lovely two-story brick home in Tulsa and I was six months pregnant with our second child. A little too late, Carl realized the change in employers compromised our health insurance, and we suddenly had to pay expensive, private premiums instead of group insurance to cover my pregnancy.

We soon decided that a move was in order and found a cute little two-bedroom home with a lower rental fee. It wasn’t my dream home but we scrubbed and painted and made it ours.

But here’s what I found. There are hidden treasures wherever you are, but you often have to look for them. As it turned out, our little house was within walking distance of Swan Lake, a beautiful sanctuary off the beaten path. And being as it was summer, my 4-year-old son Aaron and I would often take walks there, where I sat in the shade of majestic trees while Aaron fed graceful swans.

After our son, Travis, was born, we occasionally walked to the lake as a family during the cooler evenings. It was the hidden gem in what had seemed to be a negative move for us.

Sometimes life brings dramatic changes, and we have to truly search for the good in our situation. God often directs us through scripture. Proverbssays, “Cry out for wisdom, and beg for understanding.Search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure.Then you will understand respect for the Lord, and you will find that you know God.” (2:3-5 CEV).

As it turned out, we also experienced tragedy at that little house with the sudden death of our son, Travis, at three months of age, due to a rare, undiagnosed congenital heart defect. The pain and loss were horrific and I worried that my young son, Aaron would forever be shadowed by grief.

But recently, my grown-up son, Aaron, told me that some of his favorite childhood memories were those walks we took to Swan Lake. Just the two of us, while we waited on the birth of his baby brother.

I marvel at the fact that in the midst of tragedy, God made sure my young son found a hidden treasure to hold in his heart forever. He will do the same for you if you simply search His heart.

In him [Christ] all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are safely kept. Colossians 2:3 CEV

This article is brought to you by the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA).

About the author: Louise Tucker Jones loves to touch hearts. Her poignant life stories have been published in hundreds of magazines and anthologies, including over a dozen Chicken Soup for the Soul titles. Having a son with Down syndrome, Louise writes extensively concerning people with special needs, co-authoring the Gold Medallion award-winning book, Extraordinary Kids. Married to Carl for 45 years before he relocated to heaven, Louise is a mother, grandmother, professed chocoholic, and founder of the support group, Wives With Heavenly Husbands.

Join the conversation: Have you discovered hidden treasure lately?