My Pearl of Great Price

I was doing my quiet time today and came across a verse that really struck me with something I've been dealing with lately. Funny how that happens, huh?

Moving here has been awesome. I really am enjoying myself. I love the people, the craziness of the city, and even learning the language :) We are finally getting settled in and learning how to live here, and it really is starting to feel like home. But sometimes, I do struggle with wanting something different. 

Its easy to look at pictures of friends back in the states and see them celebrating the holidays with friends and family. Baking, decorating, and doing all the fun things you do around the holidays. Then I think about my tiny kitchen and how I went from more kitchen stuff then I knew what to do with to having one pot and one wok to cook in. And don't forget about the easy bake oven! 

I know it sounds really materialistic, and it is. But try giving away everything you just received from your wedding shower a year ago and fitting all your belongings into a few suitcases and telling me if its easy. It's not. 

So when things go wrong here, its easy to dwell on that. Its easy to think "what am I doing here? Have I lost my mind?"

Then I was reading this morning and came across Matt. 6:19-21 "Do not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heven, where neither moth nor rust desroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I really stopped and thought about this, and am still thinking about it. Where is my treasure? Is my treasure in the things I gave away or in storage boxes back home, or is it here? Is it in dreams of someday settling down in a nice house back home, or is it in seeking His plans for me? 

Then I remembered the parable of the pearl of great price in Matt. 13:45-46 "the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant, seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

I would like to say that its easy. Packing, moving, adjusting. Its fun, its an adventure, but sometimes its hard. But then I'm reminded this is my pearl of great price - and its worth everything.