I went to pick up my wedding ring from the jewelry store from being cleaned. The jeweler took me into a private back room and whispered to me these words in a tone like he was about to be the bearer of bad news, “This diamond is not real.”
Eighteen years ago my husband and I were poor college students. We didn’t want to go into debt over our wedding rings and so we opted for the diamond in my ring to be a CZ instead of a diamond.
We said that we would replace it in a few years when we made more money and weren’t in school. We never did. The jeweler said that he would be happy to replace it with a real diamond and that he could get us a good deal on a high quality gem. I thanked him and contemplated that possibility on the way home.
In the car I didn’t get far before I decided to not ever replace the CZ with a diamond. I decided that I liked that it was fake. I liked that it didn’t matter to me if the diamond was real or not. In fact, I could have cared less. I decided that I would let that CZ be a reminder to me from that point forward.
A reminder that expensive things don’t matter. Don’t interpret this wrong. I am not against diamonds in any way. I am not against having expensive things. I simply liked that I could let my fake wedding ring remind me of a deeply held value of mine and within our marriage.
Owning material things just to have them is not the point of obtaining material things.
Owning material things just to have them is not the point of obtaining material things. Resources that come into our possession in our marriage are to be viewed as a means to bless the lives of our family and others around us.
As I type this I am looking down at the CZ on my finger. I am reminded of all the different phases of life I have grown through.
I am reminded that my path has been directed by a kind God. His universe is kind and all creation is orchestrated in a way to bring me the highest amount of good and growth that I need.
I am reminded that my value as an individual is fixed.
I am reminded that my value as an individual is fixed. I am reminded that other individuals’ values are fixed as well.
Diamonds are only as valuable as we decide they are, that is how market pricing works. My CZ is more valuable to me than a diamond because of the importance of the reminder it now provides for me.
What are some reminders you keep in your life on purpose because of the values or memories you hold deeply that you have connected to them?
