Here are some questions to ponder. What possessions do you really value at this moment in your life? Now ask yourself this: in five years’ time, which of these possessions do you think will hold the same importance for you?

Right now I am at Saint Augustine Beach with my family—ten of us all crammed into a beach house, ages 8 up to 72. It is a hot mess. We love each other and annoy each other. We hug and cook for each other and make each other laugh until we cry. And we are making the most precious memories.

Now, I spent some cash preparing for this trip, probably more than I should have. For someone who thinks large corporations are immoral, I sure do give Amazon a lot of my money. I bought special sunscreen and bug spray (some of which was delayed and is even now still sitting on my front porch because we missed the delivery), swimsuits, towels, light & airy skirts with shorts underneath (and pockets!!!). All of which bring me joy and make the trip better in one small way or another. But absolutely no single possession, no matter how large or small or no matter how clever the pockets are, will ever replace one single time my grandson Tristen climbs into my lap and says, “I love you.” Not one. These memories are leaving a mark on me, and I am leaving my mark in their minds and hearts as well.

Matthew 6: 19-21 reads, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

What are your treasures? What mark are you leaving?

I have just finished reading a lovely novel called “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.” In it, the main character, Addie, is born in eighteenth century France. When her parents force her to marry a man she doesn’t love, the fiercely independent Addie essentially makes a deal with the devil to be free of the marriage. But as part of the deal, she is cursed to live eternally but be instantly forgotten by anyone she meets. She spends decades floating around, living a half-life, a life without purpose or meaning or mark. Until she realizes…people may not be able to remember her face, but they can remember ideas and how she made them feel. She begins to plant ideas in peoples’ heads…for songs, for art, for ways to make the world better. In the end, no one can remember the name “Addie Larue,” but Addie has made a tremendous mark on the world nevertheless.

I think about this a lot…what kind of mark am I leaving? We think too big sometimes, wanting to do grand things for humanity and the kingdom of God. But maybe the small marks we leave along the way are the ones that really matter. The homemade chicken fingers and the inside jokes and the card games and laughs and I love yous.

Those are my treasures.