The Story of a Necklace

I want to share something with you that on the outside may seems petty in it's significance, but it's emotion runs soul deep.

Yesterday morning as I prepared the boy's breakfast I was a little frazzled.  I had been trying to keep them quiet as Don had been on night shift, and was trying to sleep, and they were being unusually noisy. I had told them to be quiet a number of times, and then it happened.  Jack picked up the necklace.

Now, you are going to need a bit of back ground onthe necklace.  I bought this necklace last weekend at the Conference.  It is beautiful and shiny and girly.  Most importantly it has a large heart shaped glass bead at the bottom. For the last many years, I have not bought anything pretty for myself; I just haven't.  I have been on a journey of stripping myself bare of all refinements and adornments because I had been wearing them for the wrong reasons.  It was a God journey, and definitely a story for another day (I may share it if you ask).     Another reason that I haven't had any of these 'pretties', as I call them, is because the boys end up using them for treasure or pirate apparel and they get broken.  This particular necklace though, I was very particular and guarded about, because there is a story involved and this one I will share now.

At the conference as I was sharing with the other ladies, God spoke to me about buying something pretty for myself from him.  At first I thought that was a strange request, so I just went to look at what was on offer at the stalls.  I looked at the crosses,that were all bejewelled and they looked overstated and almost garish to me, not something that I would like.  As I walked around I got talking with a lady on the '26 seconds' stand.  This organisation works at getting children and young women out of the sex slave trade in various countries.  Every 26 seconds a new girl is sold to the sex trade, that is how it get's it's name. I looked down and saw all of the beautiful jewellery on her table and she told me that the women make this jewellery to sell and it provides them an income to live.  I LOVED the string of red beads, they were beautiful and understated and shiny.  God said no.  I kept looking and there it was, pastel pink and glittering with a huge glass heart.  "This is yours" he said.  I bought it, and as I walked away, God said "This necklace is a reminder to you that I love you and I am pleased with you, and most importantly it carries the promise that I have placed in your heart.  It will remind you of Sam's new heart, it is coming."  OH, OH, OH how my heart soared the rest of the weekend and still does.

And so back to the busy kitchen.  Jack is holding the necklace in his hand and before I can tell him to put it down... it breaks and I hear the beautiful shiny beads hit the wooden floor each making their own plink, plink, plink, a hundred times over.  And so I just screamed and then I cried.  I literally sat in a corner and cried.  I called out, "Can't I ever have any thing beautiful, just for me!  Is it wrong to want something that makes me feel pretty!"  But more than that it was my gift from Him.  The boys cried too.  Mummy doesn't cry very often, not like this anyway.

As it happens the commotion woke my husband up from his slumber, he held me and told me what I needed to hear.  He cleaned up the mess of beads all over the floor.  I asked him just to throw it all out, just keep the heart.  It was gone.  Like every other pretty thing I had tried to hold onto.

This morning I woke to find this necklace draped over the computer monitor.  Completely restored, each bead in it's place, like it was never broken.  My beloved husband Don, had stayed up after I went to bed and re beaded the whole necklace.  I can't tell you what this did to my heart.  God has used this beautiful man to restore my broken heart and in the same moment restore his promise.

"Yes, Sam's Heart is broken, but it will be restored just like this.  It will not happen immediately but you will be surprised.  What you thought was gone will be made like new.  And you deserve to have pretties because I delight in you. "

And now I am lost for words...