What is it about the diamond ring? We girls put a lot of emphasis on it don't we? When a girl announces she's getting married the first thing we want to see is the ring. Even before the guy we want to see that ring.
The bigger the diamond the better the ring, as if the size of the diamond has any relevance to the size of the love.
I'm guilty of this ring thing. I confess I have been known to check out a ring here and there and marvel at a brilliant diamond.
Even as little girls we are picking out our engagement ring long before our fiance'.
I heard a beautiful ring story from a friend the other day that I just have to share.
She works at a higher end department store in the mall. On this particular day the women who were shopping happen to be wearing some bling (big diamond rings) that my friend happened to notice.
My friend asked the Lord to give her a ring that she could wear from Him.
I have a ring that I wear from the Lord so I was expecting her to tell me about the ring He gave her, but that's not what He did.
She asked the Lord for a ring and He said “be the ring.”
What a profound response. Be the ring....
I have chewed on that for days.
What does the engagement/wedding ring represent?
It tells the world you belong to someone. That you have a personal, intimate, committed relationship with someone and you plan on having it for the rest of your life.
So for you to “be” the ring it would mean your life was a living example of that relationship to someone or in this case to Jesus.
Seriously that was such a phenomenal response. Would we expect anything less from the Holy Spirit?
So now we have to ask ourselves how exactly do we be the ring?
We had a ministry at the church I used to attend called 2nd Saturday it happens on the 2nd Saturday each month hence the name 2nd Saturday :)
Volunteers get together and reach out to the community to bless them in some way. One of the ministries is called Random Acts of Kindness and it's different each month.
My friend April, who was the Director of local outreach, and I were talking about what Random Act Of Kindness we could put together. I asked what was happening in the community that month and April mentioned Valentines Day.
At the same time we said out loud bring flowers to a nursing home. We knew it was a God thing and the thing to do.
I knew what was coming next and I already dreaded it. I knew April would ask me to lead the team.
Now I'm gonna be real honest here Gems. I didn't want to do it because old people creep me out.
I know I'm horrible but I'm just being honest. I can handle most any ministry but old people in a nursing home.
Needless to say I was the leader of the group going to the Nursing Home.
The Lord sent an amazing group of Volunteers which made it a lot easier for me and off we went.
I was doing my best to hide my feelings because the Lord was very clear this is what He wanted done and I didn't want the volunteers to know their “leader” was "creeped out."
When we entered the Nursing Home I was thrilled that it was clean and didn't have that smell that most of them have.
We spread out and went room to room to give out our flowers.
I walked into one room and the woman was sitting in her wheel chair. She held a mirror in one hand and with the other she was putting on liquid face make up. She was having a hard time with it, some parts of her face had a big spot and other parts had none.
We talked as she was applying it and the Lord said to me “help her.”
I now began having a conversation in my head with the Lord how helping her would mean touching her face and I was really not comfortable with that.
I began looking around the room for a tissue or toilet paper or something in case the Lord insisted on this helping thing. Wasn't it enough that I went did I really have to be touching old people too!
He said it again “help her.”
UGH! So I looked at her sweet blotchy make up face and said “do you want me to help you put your makeup on?” She looked up at me and said “no.”
Well alrighty then. I thought I was off the hook.
She went on to tell me that the day before was her birthday and pointed out the balloon floating on a string from her bed. I wished her a happy birthday and felt like I should compliment her so I told her makeup was coming along nicely and her hair looked pretty as well.
I should have left well enough alone.
She told me she did her hair and was able to do the sides but couldn't do the back. Then she looked at me with that sweet face again and asked “could you do my hair in the back for me?”
Gems the funniest thing happened instantly in my head.
When I was a little girl my mother was a beautician that's what they were called then now she would be called a hair stylist. Every Saturday morning my grandmother and her sisters would come to our house for my mother to do their hair. They all had round bodies and round hair doos. I remembered my mother teasing the back of their hair and filling in the bald spots to make the complete circle.
So I walked behind my new friends wheel chair, grabbed the comb and started teasing her hair.
I gotta tell you I really looked like I knew what I was doing.
I filled in all the spots and rounded it out and went back to the front of her and said “you look beautiful.”
She gave me the biggest smile that filled my heart it was such a precious moment.
As I was looking at her I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me “being the ring.”
I was being the ring! That's how we do it!
We show the love of God to others so they know who we belong to. Who we're committed to. Who we gave our life to. Who we're proud to let the whole world know we love. That's how to “be the ring.”
Gems one of the things I love about God is whenever you bless someone God blesses you at the same time.
I had no idea when I was a little kid noticing how my mother did hair that one day I would use that memory to show God's love to another person.
What things have you experienced that you can share with someone?
Take time to look around and see where you too can be the ring!
