The Story of a Crystal...

I'm going to tell you a story.

A story about my mother's crystal necklace.

When my mother and father were newlyweds, he gave her a beautiful Swarovski crystal necklace. It is a treasured gift; a precious, delicate jewel that represents their love.

A photo of the necklace in question.

Mother keeps her jewel nestled in a pinewood box. It sits on her dresser, next to her hair brush, her rollers, and her bobby pins.

One day, when I was about five, I did something that I still regret. I crept into my parents' bedroom. I sat down at her dresser and played at being a lady, brushing my hair with her ivory-handled comb. As I set down the brush...

...I knocked the pinewood box off the desk.

Horror. Panic. I scrambled off the feminine stool, knelt on the ground and picked up the box. The fall had dented one corner. My heart raced as I inched it open. I expected a shower of crystal shards to fall to my feet.

But no, the pendant was blessedly whole and perfect. The velvet and pinewood had cradled it, protected it.

I set the box back on the dresser and ran out of the room, no harm done (my discipline after admitting the offense... well, I'll discuss that another time!)

Our lives as Biblical women are like that crystal. Dutiful daughters might roll their eyes at yet another comparison to jewels, or rubies, but it's as true now as when Solomon spoke of the Proverbs 31 woman. Ask yourself this... do you want to be a perfect crystal? Or would you rather be a thousand shards, trying to glue yourself back together?

I can promise you that my path is the happy one... because unlike many of you, I have lived the secular life. And my father rescued me to Christ - together, we glued my pieces back together.