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Secret Heart

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . . . My
frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. --
Ps. 139:14, 15, NIV.

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For years my grandma's old bureau held a special charm for me.
Everything she owned resided in that bureau, except for her clothes.
Whenever we went to visit her, she would lower the lid of the bureau
and rest it carefully on the pullout supports. Behind the lid were lots
of tiny drawers, cupboards, and little shelves. Out of one of these my
grandma would always take a special treat. Maybe it would be a bar of
chocolate, a balloon, a pretty card someone had sent her, a tiny toy,
or a coin. And the old bureau continued to hold surprises when I
visited her with my own children. They soon learned that it was a
treasure chest for them, as well.

Then one day my grandma moved, and she had a new bureau. She knew how
much the old piece of furniture had meant to me, so my dad brought the
bureau down to my home. It wasn't a particularly beautiful bureau. The
drawers had woodworm, years of wear had darkened the wood, and some of
the little handles were broken, but it was still something to treasure.
We would treat the woodworm and mend the broken parts.

It was only when I began to clean the old wood that I noticed
something-the tiny door in the middle of the shelves was inlaid with
wood. There was a tiny border around the edge of the door and a
delicate heart design right in the middle. The rest of the wood was
oak, solid and functional, but this tiny door was a labor of love,
something beautiful, hidden away in the heart of the old desk.

I wondered who had made the little door, and why. Had the bureau once
been a gift of love? Did the carpenter always add a special touch to
their furniture like this? Had an old door been replaced with this
pretty one for some reason? I'll never know.

But I do know that every person is a treasure. They may look old or
worn or broken or dirty and diseased, just like the bureau. But
everyone has a special something hidden away, just waiting to be
discovered by someone who cares.

There's a secret heart waiting to be discovered in each person you meet
today.