About five years ago, the ring finger of my right hand swelled up overnight to a degree that it was necessary to cut off the butterfly ring I wore on that finger. I put the ring on a ring holder and forgot about it, neither trying to have it fixed nor throwing it away.
Numerous trips to my PCP and a rheumatologist ruled out various conditions but never produced a diagnosis. The swelling went down a bit but not enough to make it possible to wear a ring on that finger.
A few months ago, I suddenly remembered the day, many years ago, that I bought the butterfly ring, Our son, Robb, had given me a Walmart gift certificate for Christmas, my birthday, or Mother’s day. I almost always used gift certificates to buy clothes but that day, I decided to buy a piece of jewelry—something that wouldn’t wear out, that I would always know was from my son.
I have no idea why I did that. I certainly had no premonition of what the future held, but God knew.
Making a quick trip to our bedroom, I pulled the ring from my ring holder. Could it be fixed? I headed for King’s Jewelry store to find out. With tears rolling down my cheeks, I found myself telling Sarah (the name of Robb’s four-year-old daughter), the sweet sales lady, why this ring was important to me. She couldn’t have been more caring.
The store’s jeweler happened to be there, and Sarah took the ring back to find out if he could fix it. The answer was yes, and she measured the little finger of my right hand where I would wear the ring.
A week later, Sarah was working again when I stopped to pick up the ring. She presented me with my ring, glowing and flawless, more beautiful than the day I bought it. It was expensive to have it fixed, probably more than the initial cost of the ring, but being able to wear the gift from Robb is priceless.
An even greater gift is the knowledge that the Holy Spirit prompted me to buy something more than twenty years ago that would be a constant reminder of a gift from my son whom He knew would no longer be able to give me gifts. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights… (James 1:17). I’m so grateful.
Father, in your amazing foreknowledge, your gifts to us are of greater value than we could ever imagine. Amen.