Immediately, I reached for the ring and simultaneously grabbing it and whispering, "Thank you, Lord."
Grateful, I was aware the chain broke and the ring fell unsecured; thankfulness emerged as my first instinct. Thankful, I could rescue the ring, pick it up, hold it and tuck it away, safely.
It wasn't until later that night that my mind entertained the metaphor of how the chain represented our life as a family of four and how a drunk driver compromised our happiness, snapping us in two.
I can and have replaced the chain. The chain is replaceable. But I reached for the ring all day that day. I had to keep telling my mind, the ring was safe. The ring is safe. You have the ring.
It's such a temporary object, a ring. It's just a hunk of silver, fashioned into a heart that carries a cross in its center, yet to me - well my words fail tonight as I try to convey what it means.
Many thoughts have walked across my brain since the metaphor of the chain. The singular one that continues to revolve from thought to thought centers around the verses about all that is temporary. I can know all of those words and still long for the days when both my children's arms hung from neck.
Our family verse - Jeremiah 29:11 -" I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future"... is followed by
Jeremiah 29:12 -"AND YOU WILL GO ON CRYING TO ME AND MAKING PRAYER TO ME, AND I WILL GIVE EAR TO YOU."
Praying for the day when my heart is wholly thankful that there was once a beautiful red head who lit up the world with fire and grace instead of being a heart, broken and angry because I couldn't reach down and save her.
#golighttheworld