Value Judgments

As a baseball fan, I love quick outs,  but only when the other team’s at bat.

Yesterday, thousands of people along the coasts of the Carolinas were making quick outs  of a more consequential kind.  Like my brother and sister-in-love, they had to get out quickly from Wilmington, North Carolina, toss whatever mattered most into their car and start driving as far west as possible.

Life’s storms, not just hurricanes, tornados, and such, challenge  us to examine what we most value. Stormy relationships, a life-altering diagnosis, a flood of bills, or a costly mistake in judgment can catch us in a riptide that pulls us out and away from safe moorings.

Yesterday, I went into temporary panic mode when I looked down and noticed the diamond gone from the ring Jud gave me for our 50th anniversary.  There were five of those sparkly stones, one for each decade.  When we got engaged, 50 years earlier, there was no money for diamonds or any gem, for that matter and it didn’t,  But this one mattered.

Having just left Community Bible Study, when I noticed the missing stone, I scurried back to see if it fell anywhere in the church or room where our small group met.  My core leader and strangers joined the search, bending, reaching, crawling around.  Nothing.

Talked to Jud and Jesus on my way home and said, “I know it’s only stuff  and I can’t take it with me. Blah, blah, blah…” I told both I was sorry for not heeding the fact I’d sensed a loose prong a few days ago.  Then searched the car and kept my eye out for something small and sparkling as I went about the house.

Shoved my disappointment and worries aside, temporarily, and watched the Red Sox win game #100.  Price pitched a gem, which brought my worry back.

Finally, headed upstairs to bed,  shifting my thoughts to  remember what went right in this day.

First, I awoke to a new day.  That’s always a plus. Then, my first day at Community Bible Study felt like a good place with a good purpose.  Also, having mostly strangers join in the search for one small diamond reminded me I’m not meant,nor have to deal with life’s storms alone, no matter how small.

After turning back the covers, I lifted my pillow to fluff it and there, like a gift from the tooth fairy or Higher up, lay one small diamond. Carefully picked it up, placed it in a safe place while shouting and crying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”  Hugged that pillow like a crazy-in-love person,  which I was with Jesus, Jud and a group of women who crawled around on the floor, dug through bathroom trash and more to say, “If it matters to you, it matters to me.”

Diamonds everywhere.

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