It seemed like a regular day. A drive out to my Moms, to help clean her house and go about my regular life. God, had a little surprise in store for me. It wasn't one of those over the top miracles, it wasn't even a prayer that I had given up, it was just Him knowing me and knowing what was lying deep within my heart. I had longed for a new jewellery box for so long. I remember having one as a little girl, the kind you open up and the ballerina does a beautiful dance and plays music. I can't even remember if I carried anything in it, but to look at it and hear it made my heart melt. As an adult I don't have a ton of jewellery but I do have some and wanted a special place to put it. My birthday was coming soon and my Mom had already picked up my present and wanted to give it to me early. (Probably because I'm her favourite)
Now, it hardly seems right to tell you this story without giving you a bit of a back story. I had been preparing a piece for a church that I would be speaking at in a few weeks to come. They were going to be decorating the tables with jewellery boxes, some ladies were bringing there's from home. They're theme was “God's treasures” It had made me a bit sad because as their key speaker I had no jewellery box. My fine possessions were scattered throughout my house in drawers, baskets and boxes. I didn't let it bother me though, I just simply carried on, until the day at my Moms.
It didn't come wrapped up, no ribbon, just a big white box. I slowly opened it not knowing what was inside, and there it was, the most beautiful jewellery box a girl could ever ask for. It was huge, I could never own enough to fill all the compartments. It was rich in colour,smooth surface,it had soft lining, and a double compartment. It has little spots for earrings, rings and necklaces. My jewellery box even comes with a picture frame on the inside. It has a lock and key and best of all it's from my Mom. She had no idea what this gift was going to do over the next few weeks and nor did I. I finally had a place to store all my treasures. After all these years, but how did she know? She didn't, in fact no one knew, only God. And he wanted to give me a special gift that day. To confirm were I was at in my preparing for the ladies tea but also to remind me that, “He gives us the desires of our heart”
I went home and starting organizing, playing really. I was a little girl all over again. Collecting all my treasures and jewels. Trying them on before they went into their special place. I put a picture of me and my husband in the frame, and I placed my jewellery box on my dresser so I could always look at it. I grinned like a teenager going on her first date when I would see it in the morning. It was silly really, but it was all so amazing to me. All this and it still wasn't my birthday. God, still had more in store for me.
My husband and I went out for the evening with friends to celebrate another year of me being older than my much younger husband. We finished off the night at our place with cake and more presents. All the girls had something, but Nikki my eldest did have something a bit different. A large bag, quite heavy, filled with tissue paper. Before I could open it she grins and says” I know you already have one,but I had already stated making it.” I smiled back at her, curious now, not knowing what was inside. I pulled out the wooden object and placed it on the table. Nikki smiling with a shy grin says, “it's a jewellery box I made it in wood working.” I was overwhelmed. I had probably waited 28 years or so to receive a box and now in the matter of 3 weeks I have two. It was beautiful, much plainer than the one I had received weeks earlier from my Mom. But still beautiful in it's own way. It didn't have anything that really jumped out at me, it just warmed my heart knowing that my 15 year old had made something so beautiful. That from her hands she had created something totally unique and totally for me. It was a great finish to a great day.
The next day I brought out both boxes and placed them on the table, and that's where God really began to show me something remarkable. I had already examined my beautiful box from my Mom. I mean everything about it was so perfect. You only had to look at it from a far to see how perfect it was. I hadn't really spent the same amount of time with the one Nikki had made. Nikki had mentioned when she gave it to me that she only received a “B', which I thought was ridiculous because she had done such a wonderful job. I started to look more closely for the same flaws that the teacher had found and slowly I could see them. Her box was a bit off centre and over lapped at the sides, it had many small dents and scratches. The latch was broken, uneven and coming away from the metal. Near the back there were a few places with small separations from the wood. But so beautiful, hand made, completely unique and definatley one of a kind. I would never have noticed the small imperfections that this box had held had I not gotten so close to the details.
I got it, the message loud and clear. So many of us are after the mass produced. The perfect body, perfect skin, hair. The fancy clothes, careers, men and the things that we can fit into our little compartments. All our treasures stored away in boxes for no one to see. But God sees all of it, all of our dents and scratches. The broken pieces of our lives. He sees the places that have become separated from Him. We keep people at a distance so that we can merely be on display for them to simply admire us. I began giving the same attention to detail to the box my mother had given me, it became obvious that the mass produced box also held imperfections. That each one of us has imperfections, and some feel the weight of only being offered the “B.” The teacher that graded Nikki's box was just doing his job. He probably never considered the time and thought she put into making the box, he probably didn't think that it might have just been the way she intended it to look, and that to her it was perfect the way she made it.
Nikki's jewellery box is far from plain, there is only one like it, there can never be a carbon copy, some may try to make something similar but none will ever be the same as hers as there is only one that has passed through her hands.
