The ring

When Michael designed my wedding ring, he encased the diamond in a platinum circle. He did this in part for style and in part because he knows me. I am a little clumsy.

This ring and I have been through many things.

When it was new, the platinum shone so perfectly smooth. But a knock here and a bump there and these little scratches kept appearing. They were so loud on that perfect smoothness. I remember walking for hours to and from Akers Hall at K- State just looking at this ring. I would admire it, then feel sad for bumping it into so many things. Michael said that one day a patina would form from all those bumps and scratches and that it would be beautiful from the wear.

I never got it sized because I never wanted it to be too small when i was pregnant or swollen from houston summers or crawfish boils. I always wanted to be able to wear it. And I have worn my ring while pregnant and in labor with both of my boys.

For a while I wore my ring as a nurse. I have always enjoyed it and wanted the world to know that I was a happily married woman. That was until I was making a hospital bed and it fell off in the bed frame/mattress. And then not once, but twice, it came off inside my latex gloves in trashcans full of things that you would not want touching your wedding ring....and then I stopped wearing it to the hospital.

The problem is that when you stop wearing your ring for a few days a week, you stop noticing that it isn't on your finger for the other days of the week. That is when the trouble started. I would go a day here or two days there and not notice that it was off. I would take it off in random places and forget where those places were. So then, i made a new resolution. One place in the house would hold my ring. Perfect. I stopped misplacing it. That is until last year.

I was pulling weeds in a gentle rain. Angus was being Angus and was obsessively bringing me the ball to throw as I knelt in the dirt. I am left-handed. My hand was wet. My ring is large. Before I knew it, i had thrown the ball and the ring flew off my hand as well. I couldn't see it, but I heard a "PLINK" somewhere near the house. We looked for days in the direction that I threw that ring. We cleaned our yard like it had never been cleaned and raked before. Michael even took the boards up from the deck. We were certain that we were in trouble after days of searching. Our precious friends Don and Alex showed up one Sunday after church. They said that they knew we were in distress and could they help us look for the ring. To make it slightly shorter, after a while of looking without results, Don just decided to start praying to find the ring. He moved as he prayed and before the words were silently out of his mouth, he looked behind the air conditioner to find my ring just sitting there looking at him.
He was surprised and speechless. I was grateful to God for answered prayers and friends that pray them.

That is why I did not despair when my ring vanished about two weeks ago. I had no earthly idea where it could have gone. But instead of flipping out, I called on the prayers of the saints. First Don and Alex, then the college girls, then the small group, and then the mom's group. I asked them all to pray, and I believe that they did so in earnest.

We had a small party for our friends two weekends ago. No ring. I packed up our house and a cooler of breastmilk, boudain, and ice cream last week for our trip to Kansas. No ring. I unpacked the cooler in Kansas when I arrived. No ring. But on Monday when Michael was emptying old dry ice bags from that same cooler that I used for the party and for the trip, when he lifted out a sack on the bottom of the cooler, there was my wedding ring just sitting there looking at him. With no logical explanation.

My ring has always been precious to me. It has been a reminder to me of how creative and generous my husband is. It is strong and sturdy despite being dropped and beaten by a careless clumsy woman. It shows the world that I belong to someone and someone belongs to me. But now, my ring means even more. It reminds me that God cares about the things that matter to me - no matter how small. It reminds me to seek out prayers from friends when I do not have the answers on my own. And now, today, it reminds me that it is time to go and get it sized so that I stop taking it off all the time.

My ring is more beautiful now that it has a patina.



Here is a parable that keeps coming to mind...
Luke 15: 8-10: (from the Message)
"Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: 'Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."