The Ring #priceless love

A few weeks ago during my quiet time I asked God for a ring. The answer I felt on my heart was that He already had one for me. My boyfriend and I have had a very interesting relationship to say the least but an explanation of that is for another time. He has said many times over the last few months that he wanted to marry me. I have been divorced twice and one of my marriages was very abusive. I have 3 children at home and one of them has special needs. I am also a disabled veteran. How could any man want to marry a woman with so much baggage? How could I believe this man was the one God meant for me? He seems so selfish. How can he be the man God intends to be the provider and protector of our family? I love him. He is amazing; creative, a hard worker who is good at his job, handsome, compassionate, loving, affectionate, intelligent, and so much more. I know he is going to do wonderful things for Christ. He loves Jesus like no man I’ve ever known. Unfortunately I haven’t felt he really values me. God is reassuring me that He is changing that.

Anyway, back to the ring. After I prayed asking God for a ring I didn’t give it another thought. Many storms came into my life. My mother became very mentally unstable and I had to take care of a financial crisis for her and take over her estate. The health and wellness business I felt God placed in my life wasn’t making any money yet. My boyfriend’s mother had a water leak in her house so he had to spend day and night remodeling her bathroom while all this was going on. I relied on God to get me through this time. Repeating Phil 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”; to myself all day long as I went about the tasks He had placed before me to straighten out all of life’s messes.

This past week I was really looking forward to the weekend. We had tickets to a Christian concert Friday evening and I was supposed to be a bridesmaid in my niece’s wedding at the beach on Saturday. I had a beautiful dress and was all ready to go. With the crisis going on with my mother and how hard I had been working at my business I needed a break. With all that my boyfriend had going on with his mother and his job we hadn’t been able to spend much time together so I was really looking forward to a day away from all our responsibilities to celebrate a joyous occasion with family and friends in a beautiful coastal setting. I also felt sure that he was going to propose during our overnight away. He had asked about what size ring I wore etc.

Thursday afternoon when I picked my daughter up from school after working at a health fair all day, she was very sick. I immediately called the doctor and they saw her an hour later in their office. She had a temp of 103.1 but the doctor said her lungs sounded good, ears looked ok etc. She said it was probably just a virus but if she got worse to take her to the hospital. We went home, gave her some ibuprofen and went about the rest of our day. Her fever went down and although she didn’t eat dinner she seemed to be feeling better. She even “helped” my boyfriend install carpet in her bedroom while I made supper. I took my older daughter to bible study and when I got back my boyfriend proposed! I was so shocked. I thought for sure he was going to do it at the coast this weekend. It really was sweet. I walked in the front door and he was on one knee, with the most serious face. My other two children were standing on either side of him holding signs saying “Marry Me.” With tears in his eyes he asked if I would be his wife. I shook my head in disbelief and said “OK.” He put the ring on my finger, we celebrated for a moment and then went about finishing the tasks of the evening. It seemed really strange for him to do it at that time. He said he was going to wait until the weekend but something told him to do it right then. Below is a picture of us that evening. Don't know if you can see from the picture but I was exhausted and a little confused. I'm really not sure how he was feeling in this picture but he seemed happy and had that quiet reassurance that comes after you've done whatever it is God has asked you to do.

Later that night my daughter woke up around 11:30 with a raging fever and having difficulty breathing. I had to take her to the emergency room. After running a few tests, examining her, and doing a chest xray they determined that she had pneumonia! She was then admitted to the hospital and taken to a room in the children’s wing. How could this be happening? What about our wonderful weekend? I kept looking at the ring and asking God what in the world was going on. I had spent all this money on a dress and my niece and family and friends were all disappointed. I had to call and make arrangements for my other children. We were going to be in the hospital at least overnight. No concert, no wedding, no weekend away at the coast. My poor daughter was getting sicker by the hour. They were giving her antibiotics but instead of getting better, she was getting worse. I prayed, my boyfriend came to the hospital and stayed with us and we prayed. Our families prayed, our church family prayed, everyone we knew on facebook prayed, my online bible study group prayed, I imagine at least a hundred people were praying for my little girl within 24 hours.

I kept looking at that ring. A prayer answered at such a strange time. God chose that ring and He chose the timing. As you can see in the picture, the diamond in the ring is surrounded by smaller diamonds that look like a storm. On either side of the ring are engravings that look like wheat. God was using that storm to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Jesus is our calm in the storm, the eye of the hurricane, the rock we can stand on and if we keep Him in the center of our hearts and lives we can weather any storm. That ring reminded me of my hope in the Lord and every time I looked at it I knew He was right there in the hospital with me and my daughter. I knew He had a plan to bring His name glory and I knew if we held on tight to Jesus everything was going to be ok. That week our OBS memory verse was Isaiah 49:23 “Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” So I hung tight to God’s word. Truth be told I felt disappointed about our weekend and more than a little afraid for my daughter's health. I was also concerned about my other children and how they were coping with this. We cried and we prayed and we held tight to Jesus, and to each other; waiting to see what God was going to do next. Trusting His perfect timing and plan.

My now fiancé stayed at the hospital with me all weekend. The second day we were there he told me where the ring came from. He had looked at several jewelry stores and had an amount he wanted to spend but couldn’t find a ring he liked for that amount. Then out of nowhere his mother said she had a ring that she could sell him. When he asked how much she wanted for it, she told him the exact amount that he had planned to spend. She had taken a ring she owned to be cleaned and when she picked it up from the jewelers they gave her this ring back instead of the one she dropped off. Despite the fact that she insisted this was not her ring and this ring was much more valuable than the one she had dropped off, the jewelers refused to take it back. She had kept it in a drawer at her job until now. My boyfriend knew this was the ring God intended for him to give to me.

How amazing and awesome and powerful our God is! His timing is so perfect even when we can’t see it. My daughter got better a few days later and is now home from the hospital recovering which truly is a miracle in itself considering how very sick she was. God used that time to bring our family closer together, to give us a new appreciation for one another, and to show us His unfailing love. Now that she's home and better I can truly be excited about our engagement and I can see that without a doubt this is the man God intends for me to marry and I am so very thankful for him. Now that things have calmed down I'm looking forward to the day when we spend the rest of our lives united in Christ. How can I keep from singing His praise, shouting His name. If this isn’t amazing grace, unfailing love; then I don’t know what is. I just have to say Hallelujah and thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross so that we can belong to such an amazing God who truly works all things together for the good of those who love Him. Amen!

Maybe you are going through your own storm right now. Please know that God can use whatever circumstances you may be in for His glory. It's ok to cry and to pray and to cry and pray some more. Ask everyone you know to pray for you and to pray with you. Just keep trusting in the Lord and you will not be disappointed :)