God likes jewelry too...

It is amazing the lessons that are lurking for us in the most unlikely places...like my jewelry box. Who would have ever thought that God would use jewelry to teach me a lesson?

If you know me at all you know that I am NOT a "jewelry" girl. I have my wedding ring, that my wonderful husband spent way too much money on and ensured that on our 10th, 15th or even 25th wedding anniversary he would not be shelling out several more thousands of dollars for an "upgrade." That I wear constantly, I never take it off (except for when I was pregnant and my fingers were so swollen I was afraid that if I didn't take it off they would have to cut it off - my finger, not the ring, they would never be allowed to touch my ring). I have a few modest yet beautiful "real" pieces that Wade has purchased for me over the years, a few "quality" costume jewelry from my late grandmother and the rest of my jewelry consists of the baubles you see in such high class stores as Target or if you want to really get fancy, New York and Co.

Most of the time I don't wear jewelry, if I do happen to have time to think before leaving the house and remember to check my jewelry box, I usually end up wearing whatever tarnished, chipped, missing-a-rhinestone-or-two jewelry I manage to snag before rushing out the door. Usually I don't care, chances are people won't notice the "silver" has rubbed off or that missing faux crystal from my earring. If they do then they either have too much time on their hands or they are standing too close, in which case I don't care about their opinion of my jewelry.

Why don't you grab your real jewelry on your way out instead of the fake stuff you ask? Well, that is because I keep my "real" jewelry in a separate much more difficult to get to spot than in my jewelry box. On the off chance that someone breaks in and steals my jewelry box I don't want to lose what is most precious to me, what I can't replace. (there is a whole other lesson in this fact alone, but I'll get to that in another post.) So because my "real" stuff is hidden away, out of site and a bit difficult to get to, and because I don't care that much about what jewelry I wear anyway, I don't usually have the time to get my good stuff, but truthfully it is more because I don't think about it, you know the saying - out of site, out of mind.

Well the other day I was getting ready for a pretty snertzy event, I had a beautiful outfit all picked out, matching shoes, even a cute purse to complete the look. As I stood there scrutinizing myself in the mirror, I realized that what I really needed was some jewelry to finish off the look. So to my jewelry box I headed. Pawing through my tarnished relics (I HATE spending money on a newer version of something I already have, even if it is turning my neck green!) and broken bits that I have repaired over and over, I become exasperated. Do I honestly have nothing that will go with this outfit? And then I see a glint of gold at the bottom and pull out a tarnished (notice a pattern here?) yet serviceable necklace and low and behold both matching earrings (usually I can only find one of the earrings). So I flounce back into the bathroom to adorn myself with my finishing touches.

Standing once again in front of the mirror I admire my completed look, and realize that while the necklace and earrings are "serviceable" they just are not quite right. This is a snertzy event, I need to look good, not like a kid playing dress up with mommy's costume jewelry, not to mention that the outfit far out classed the jewelry and it was a bit obvious, not matter how far away you were standing from me.

Suddenly the light bulb goes off over my head. I have REAL gold jewelry that I can wear, in fact I have the perfect thing. A delicate gold chain with an equally delicate and beautiful drop pendant made out of one large translucent opal surrounded by several smaller translucent opals (kind of like a flower). I even have these gorgeous teardrop dangle earrings, gold and again translucent opals. If you have never seen a translucent opal, you have not seen true beauty. It is like a perfectly preserved drop of the most vibrant crystal clear ocean water - when you look at it you see a rainbow of fiery colors reflecting back in a sea of turquoise green, but you can see straight through it. Beautiful. Breath-taking. I can't believe I forgot I had that!

Back in front of the mirror (ok so by now you've figured out that I spend a lot time in front of the mirror, we can get into that later) and WOW! I look as good as I can possibly look - at least outfit/jewelry coordination wise. And this is when it hits me, the lesson.

Here I have this beautiful, real jewelry and I almost was content to leave it in it's hiding place and wear tarnished fake jewelry. In fact there have been many times when I have been content to wear the cheap, broken, fake jewelry instead of the expensive, beautiful, and real jewelry. And I realized that this situation is very applicable to my spiritual life.

I am constantly content to fill my spiritual life with the sustenance that the world has to offer: the fake, cheap, broken, tarnished, turning my neck green things of this world. I rarely remember that I have the "real" thing, an awesome, all-powerful, loving God waiting to offer me true sustenance, the bread of life and living water that will leave me thirsty no more. How pitiful am I?

Being content to fill your time and your mind with all of the things of this world, when you have the creator of the world waiting for you to seek Him, to deepen your relationship with Him, to draw near to Him, waiting to fill your spirit and mind with what it most desires, what it was created to desire, is just like wearing cheap tarnished costume jewelry with a beautiful ball gown when you have the most expensive dazzling real jewelry sitting in it's hiding place at home.

So does this prove that God likes jewelry? No, but He can use jewelry to remind me (and you) that He is not a God to sit in a hiding spot, while we parade around in trash. When you have the real thing, use it.