Precious Treasure

Lily was ready to nail the sides of the box together. She held the point of the nail against the wood and tapped the head of it with the hammer. She tapped harder, missed, and hit her thumb. Startled by the pain, she yelled out a word. "Lily!" Karen, Lily's stepmom, sounded mad. "Never use the name of our Lord like that again!"Lily could see the blood collecting under her fingernail. "Sorry, it slipped out." She didn't understand what the big deal was. Besides, that really hurt.Lily was making a keepsake box for her older brother Caden and his fiancée, Zoey. They could keep their special stuff in it, like tickets to their first concert together, or the dried-up flowers Caden had given Zoey for senior prom. Lily had her own keepsake box that her dad had made. She kept memories of her mom in it--some photos, a letter her mom wrote her right before she died, and her mom's turquoise bracelet.Later that day, Lily was working on her homework at the kitchen table. She muttered a few words about how much she hated math."Are you calling to God for help, or just throwing His name around?" Karen asked. Lily ignored her. Later that evening, Lily was looking through her keepsake box and noticed her mother's bracelet was missing. She immediately thought of her stepsister. "Sadie!" Lily hollered."Yeah?" Sadie appeared at the bedroom door. She was wearing the turquoise bracelet. "That's my mother's bracelet!""I was only trying it on."Lily was furious. "That bracelet is special. You can't wear it around like any old piece of jewelry!"Karen walked up behind Sadie. "Sadie, you know better than to touch Lily's things."Sadie took the bracelet off and handed it to Lily. "Sorry, Lily."Lily nodded and held the bracelet close to her heart.When Sadie left the room, Karen sat next to Lily. "Things we treasure should be treated with honor and respect, shouldn't they?" Lily remembered her words from earlier. "Sort of like God's name?"Karen put her arm around Lily and squeezed. "Yes, like the precious, holy name of our Lord. Jesus loves us so much He died and rose again to conquer sin and death and make us God's children. His name is special, and we should treasure it." -Bonnie Carr