Redemption Necklace

 

 

Aug.  29, 2009

 

I did not originally make this necklace, but I did restring it.

 

A friend of mine was over visiting.  I noticed the dainty green and white bead necklace she was wearing, and made a mental note of the design, hoping to recreate it – so simple, yet so lovely.  Some time later, while involved in a vigorous activity, her necklace broke, and (though she seemed dissapointed) she made no mention of fixing or restringing it, and dropped it in the trash.  I was a bit surprised, and considered offering to fix it for her, but realized that under the circumstances, it probably would seem more like a criticism than a help.  So later I went back and gathered the pieces, sterilized them thoroughly, and restrung the necklace.

The Lord does the same for us.  In so many cases, those who become His children are the ones who have been discarded by the rest of us – the ones who know little human love and kindness, and so are more likely to appreciate His Love for the treasure it is.  The outcasts, the ‘unmentionables’, those who “it’s sad, but they probably will never change.”  And so we give up on them.  Then – when the pessimists aren’t looking (or sometimes even when they are) – the One Who ‘bore our pain and carried our sorrows’ steps in, picks up the pieces of their broken lives, lovingly washes, polishes, and mends, then restrings the jewels He created, and leans back to watch the world wonder at the transformation.