Rejoice! Once was lost....

My husband and I started dating while we were both in school. About 3 years in, we were talking about marriage. I made it clear to him that I did not need a ring to plan a wedding and that I was ok with just a wedding band when we did get married. I did not want to start our marriage in debt, considering he would only be working for a few months before we got married. However, my husband is a man. Men have pride. An engagement ring is a kind of ego boost for a man. He chased and caught me. I was his prize. He needed to claim it with a ring. His response to my fiscally responsible plan was "I am Ashanti Woods. My fiancee WILL have a ring." Ok, dear. Whatever.

He researched. Learned about diamonds and found a way to buy me a beautiful high quality diamond engagement ring. The very next thing he told me after I said yes was "I'm going to get you something bigger when I finish residency." (Lawd. I'm tearing up as I write this.)

Push Gift

Well, residency came and went. We had marital problems. He wasn't sure I deserved an upgrade. I wasn't sure we would stay married. We worked on us. We fixed it. We bought our dream home knowing it was a money pit. We started a family. I was really swollen during pregnancy. So swollen that we had to pry that ring off of my swollen pregnant fingers. Literally, with olive oil, ice and dental floss. The ring he had sacrificed to buy me, with no job, went into the original box and locked into our safe.

Mother's Day Gift

We joked about me not wanting to look like a single mother without a wedding ring while pregnant. He bought me a push gift. A beautiful gemstone set. I LOVE that ring. THEN, I almost died during delivery (Click HERE to read about that). He bought me another beautiful set for Mother's Day. I LOVE that ring too. Now, here I am with wedding set options and I was still wanting to wear my original set. I know. #FirstWorldProblems. I'd try it on every now and then but my fingers never went all the way down after having my son. My original rings were now too small and needed to be sized up. My husband wanted me to just do it all at once, upgrade the stone and get the rings sized but quitting my job to pursue full-time entrepreneurship pushed that plan a little further off into the future.

After having a good month in sales, I took my set to the jeweler to get sized. I was so happy when I picked it up. It was sparkly and shining like the first day I got it. I wanted to preserve the "fresh from the jeweler" sparkle, so I didn't wear it everyday. When we went on vacation, I decided to wear my push gift ring instead because I'd be devastated if something happened to my original set.

While on vacation, I lost one of my super small studs in the grass. But I found it. My husband kept asking me how I found it. I shrugged. We laughed. Went on about with our vacation fun. We had no idea that lost and found stud was foreshadowing. Jehovah was preparing us for the big lose.

One day in July, I decided to take my son to my girlfriend's house to swim. I put on my beloved original wedding ring set, packed up the kid and start driving. Halfway to her house, I look down and see it. Or don't see it. Either way. My heart dropped. The center stone was missing. I didn't panic. I knew that it was somewhere in the house or the car. I get to my girlfriends house. I search the car. We stay for a few minutes. I go home. I search the alley, garage, back yard. We scour the house. I tell the housekeeper to leave the vacuum contents for me to sift through. Nothing. That was July.

No Center Stone 

Unfortunately, I never added my ring, or any other valuable for that matter, to our insurance policy, so, after the deductible, I'd only have $500 to shop for a new diamond if I made a claim. Not worth it. But we were not worried. Sad. But not worried. We remembered that night in the Dominican Republic when I found my stud in the grass and knew that Jehovah wanted us to be at ease. It would show up.

This year makes 10 years of marriage for us. The first six year's were rocky. So we planned on having a small vow renewal in Las Vegas to celebrate us making it to this milestone. We only invited close friends who know what we've overcome. My husband and I haven't talked about my ring but I knew it was in the back of his mind. Things have been tight since I became a full time entrepreneur. We aren't sure we can afford the renewal but we are at a phase in our lives where experiences mean more than things. Not being able to upgrade my ring is no big deal but not having a ring at all.... *phew* It's now November. I lost my stone in July. With the renewal less than a month away, the ring was coming to ring forefront of my mind but I won't dare mention it.

Friday, I was in the alley, struggling with trying to attach my son's carseat base in my car. I never do it in the alley. I always do it in the garage. But my car had been in the shop, so my mother in law's car that I'd been driving was in the garage. I was struggling really bad this time. More than usual. Took off my watch and rings to get in to it. Was twisting and changing angles when I see a little twinkle coming from the seam of the carseat. I stepped back. Looked again. The sun was hitting it at the right angle. It was my diamond!

It's a big deal to me.

Hallelujah!! I hollered. Tears came to my eyes. Unbelievable! All this time. It was right there. I tried to grab it and it fell into the depths of my car's door trim. Riddled with wires and snaps. I started pulling it apart but I was running late to get the kid from daycare.

First call. My husband. Best news all month. Made his day. Took the car to my father. He pulls the seat and door trim apart. Viola! Diamond in hand. Won't He do it! All praises. Jehovah always delivers. Now we're so happy to have that original diamond. Smaller than the diamond my husband wants me to have but it means soooo much more to us now that we found it after thinking it may have been lost forever.

Moral: Jehovah be mentally preparing you for things to come and youoneemknowit. Appreciate what you have. If it's taken away, you will be sad. Allow the sadness but have faith that Jehovah will restore it when the time is right.

I'm sure there are some other lessons that I needed to learn from this. I'll let y'all know after I meditate on it for a little while longer. Until then, pray and have faith. Everything is going to be alright. Everything you lost will be restored.