Rings of Life

“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6

Back in September, Bruce and I traveled to Portland, Oregon to visit his brother and sister-in-law. Crystal and I have always been close and I have considered her more of another sister than in-law. We had not been together for over a year and a half due to Covid and we were finally going to celebrate a joint 60th-birthday. When we got to their home, she handed me a small beautifully wrapped box. I opened it up to find a silver necklace that bore 6 interlocking rings, a ring for each decade for which I had lived. It will always be one of my favorite gifts. I began thinking this morning as I was playing with the rings hanging around my neck.

The first ring boasted of my birth into an amazing family of parents, grandparents, sisters, aunts, uncles, and a slew of cousins. It represented the unconditional love of family and the unmistakable faith in God in which I was raised.

The second ring held the memories of standing up in church and being confirmed in my own faith. It’s circle of silver held within it my precious friends from childhood to adulthood that God has placed in my life.

The third ring is probably one of my top two most precious rings. It is the ring of time in which I became a mother to 3 amazing children who love me, and wife to an amazing man who consistently and lovingly shares life with me. Within this ring, God blessed me with new friends along the way to share future rings with me which still continues to this day.

The fourth ring brought too much heartache to remember, coupled with horrible choices and decisions I made. But what was met with the horrible choices were mercy and forgiveness from those whom I let down. But I cannot despise the ring that showed me how to forgive and give grace to others with the same grace and forgiveness given to me by God.

The fifth ring is my very favorite and was a ring I never could have imagined. It is a ring that completely stopped me in my tracks and set my path in a different direction. A ring that ushered me into a living relationship with God who had been there every step of every ring. His love and comfort pulled me through the death of my sister and my dad, and an excruciating season as caregiver for my father-in-law with Alzheimers. Within this precious ring, God's blessings showered me with grandchildren discovering a love that I never could have imagined.

The sixth ring was filled with a focus on God’s kingdom and discovering the purposes He had for me from the time He formed me. He has given me amazing opportunities to share in His work despite my weaknesses and flaws. This ring blessed me with a new round of grandchildren.

I only have to consider the rings of my life to understand who has been with me through it all. Each ring matters because the times of suffering and joy are intertwined with each other and show the faithfulness of a loving Father. Just as these rings are layered in sterling silver, the rings of my life [and yours] have been layered in God’s love.

‘Christ is [and has been] the head of this home, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation’ Suffering is Never for Nothing, Elisabeth Elliot, p. 3.