Stone of Remembrance

As a follower of Jesus, I try to curb my love of things that sparkle and shine, but frankly, I’m not always very successful. I’m a jewelry girl, and if said piece happens to contain diamonds? Oh my, how my little heart can flutter! As the song says, I am a material girl . . . at least when it comes to jewelry (also boots, but that is a post for another time.) Fortunately, I am married to man who has come to enjoy shopping for jewelry (almost) as much as I enjoy getting it!

Years ago, for our anniversary, my husband bought me a beautiful necklace. It was a single diamond suspended on a beautiful, delicate golden chain. It was lovely, and it was valuable. After a couple of years, though, it simply disappeared, from my sight ifnever from my mind. I searched for it, racked my mind over it, and prayed that the Lord would reveal its whereabouts. Radio silence. I prayed that, if it was lost forever, I would be able to just let it go. Again, nothing. All I knew was that a bit of my earthly treasure was gone, and it made me sad. Over the years, I would still search.

About fourteen years passed and, based on business and finances, my husband felt it was wise to sell our home. Dear reader, I have a hard time expressing how the thought of that broke my heart. You see, we had been in our home for twenty-five years. It was where we raised our sons, and to say my roots ran deep doesn’t even begin to explain the connection. When I was growing up, we moved frequently, and with that came changing schools, towns, and friends—and insecurity. While I don’t regret my upbringing, let’s say the pendulum didn’t just swing in the other direction, it got tangled in the gorgeous tree I looked at every morning while I had my coffee. This woman didn’t want to go anywhere.

What followed was a season of very intense, tearful prayer. You see, one of us had to give. I prayed that the Lord would either change my husband’s heart or change mine. God answered. and I drew what felt like the short straw. So we began the process of cleaning, purging, fixing, and preparing to show our home in the best light, with no idea where we were going. For me, it was also a time of crying out to God, knowing he could stop the whole thing. Yet it kept moving forward, and, out of obedience, so did I.

During this time, my church had a yard sale to raise money for an expansion project. It was perfect timing to donate several carloads of items we no longer needed. One afternoon, I looked through a heap of costume jewelry I was going to donate. There, weaving through the jumble, was a delicate strand of gold. At its end was the sparkle of a diamond. There, tangled in the cheap, was the treasure for which I had never stopped searching. At that moment, amidst the tears and the rejoicing, came the voice of God, so clearly saying, “Let go of what is worthless, believing that I have something far more valuable for you. Trust Me . . . I have good for you.”

That moment changed everything. Suddenly, the diamond necklace became a symbol of God’s grace. It became a stone of remembrance, a wearable promise. One of the most astounding realizations about that time is that, in hindsight, I can see how it was planned years in advance. You see, during all those years of searching, all those years of prayers and wondering, our Father knew exactly where the necklace was. He also knew the day I would find it. And he knew why. It was in a place I had searched many times before, and while the place was correct, the season was not. It wasn’t the time for my eyes to find it.

Very shortly, we were led to our new home, only two blocks away on a road called Ebenezer, the meaning of which, in 1 Samuel 7:12, is explained as, “The Lord is my help.” We were able to stay in the neighborhood we have lived and loved, in a beautiful ranch that even has an office for my counseling practice. It is so much more than we could have ever imagined. It was not, however, more than God imagined. We just had to let go of what we knew in order to receive what he had for us.

I truly hope that the Lord will allow us to live out our days in the home he provided. But you know what? If not, I will hold on to my sparkly stone of remembrance that tells of his mercy, his grace and, as I learned in that painful, beautiful, challenging, tear-soaked yet glorious season, his amazing provision.

Lisa Leone Dickerson is the founder of Reaching Grace and is a counselor/actor/speaker from Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband, her critters and, for just a bit longer, her youngest son. She is mom of two grown sons, mother-in-law to a beautiful woman and will soon be claiming another! She loves speaking God’s love into people’s lives, the power of the second hand compliment and lingering over morning coffee. She may also have a boot obsession. Lisa can be reached at ReachingGrace.com.

Photograph © Savannah Walters, used with permission