Interesting, Dotsie. The Scripture passage I keep getting during prayer time lately is from Matthew 6:21: "For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Very thought-provoking; one of the ways I've been trying to fill these empty holes in my heart has been through shopping, not so much for myself, but for others. It does bring joy to surprise people with things I know they want, and to see the look of pleasure, especially on my grandchildren's faces.

But it's never enough. As soon as the gifts are given and opened, the emptiness in my heart returns.

My "treasure" was once rooted in my family. As they disappeared one by one, my heart began to disappear too. And the more I grasped for what couldn't be, the emptier I felt.

So I substituted "things". But those "things" don't sustain my heart, and they don't fill the emptiness. Grasping for more just makes them less thrilling and terribly unfulfilling.

I need to let go of the desperate grasping for something to dull the pain. I need to rediscover where my true treasure lies and then I'll find my heart again.