Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite

Leigh McLeroy introduces her book by sharing the contents of an old cigar box that once belonged to her grandfather. The items inside were not of great monetary value. An old cigarette lighter, a change purse, a wallet, and a key ring with two keys were among the items inside the box. These are items grandpa kept.

Treasured has thirteen chapters. Each chapter is several pages long, too long to be considered a devotional and yet that was the way I used this book, as a devotional. McLeroy includes scripture, a short story and commentary. She uses simple seemingly unimportant items such as: an olive leaf, a strip of bloodied cloth, a golden bell, a head of barley and a smooth stone to remind us that God kept us. He could have thrown us away but he decided we were keepers.

The last chapter is my favorite:  Inside My Cigar Box. This is the most important chapter in the whole book. For it asks the question what things make the story mine. For Christmas last year we bought two of our grandchildren an inexpensive “treasure chest.”  It isn’t large and it looks much like a pirates chest. We explained to them that the box was for their special things. They caught on to the concept right away. The chest stays at our house in a secret hiding place. Last week Sarah asked me to get her chest. She wanted to show me what was inside. There was a scrap of sparkly material, among the assortment of odds and ends. When she was a toddler bright materials caught her attention. She had seen this particular piece in my sewing stash. She wanted to play with it. We wrapped it around her as a cape, a head piece, a dress and anything else she wanted to use it for. She doesn’t play with it any more but it still one of her treasures. She folded it carefully and put it back in her chest. “This is special Meme I don’t want anything to happen to it.”  It reminded her of other things.

So what is in your chest?  My life like the author’s is filled with Christ treasures. I have my first Bible, given to me by my first Sunday school teacher. There is a miniature pitcher from Cincinnati brought to me by my father when he came home from a business trip. There are the handwritten lyrics to a song by my husband. There are pages from a song book used by my father and father in law when they sang in a quartet together. A dried rose from my wedding bouquet is in the little box. Someday my grandchildren will look at my treasures and wonder what each one represents. To me each one stands for a blessing from my heaven Father.

Isn’t it wonderful that we are God’s treasures?  He didn’t throw us away. Thank you, Leigh McLeroy for reminding me.

Reading a book by Leigh McLeroy is like having tea with a great friend. Her style is conversational and pleasant.