It was a hard fall.
My husband and I were walking at our favorite park, enjoying the sunny, spring day. We were on a familiar path, so I wasn’t watching my steps. A stone paver had become dislodged. I tripped and fell – hard – catching myself on the palms of my hands.
After sitting a few minutes to clear my head, I went to the restroom and washed my bleeding left arm. Thankfully, I escaped major injuries.
We drove away from the park, heading for the grocery store. About two miles away, I reached down to turn my engagement ring back toward the outside. Because my husband usually walks on my left and the ring sometimes scratches him, he had asked me to turn it to the inside when we walk. When I turned my ring around, the diamond from my engagement ring was missing and the prongs on the head of the ring were mangled.
We headed back to the park. Not expecting to ever find the diamond, we still knew we had to look. In less than 30 seconds, my husband spotted it in the mud. A solitary stone, unprotected just a few minutes before, was now safe in my husband’s hand.
The next day, we went to the jeweler. We chose a different setting – my diamond would now be surrounded by a small circle of tiny diamonds.
It has taken me some time to become accustomed to my beautiful new ring, and I love it. But what I like most are the personal meanings I have placed on it. 
The jeweler called the circle of tiny diamonds around my original diamond a “halo” – that term we so often equate with angels, purity and holiness. My diamond, once lost in the dirt, is now surrounded by a pure halo of tiny sparkling diamonds. And when I look at it, I’m reminded that I am encircled by my husband’s love, as well as God’s protection.
The meaning of my story – the diamond that was lost and found, the head that was mangled and replaced – extends beyond me to other women.
Abuse and neglect. Loss and grief. Divorce. Betrayal, rejection, abandonment and loneliness. These – and more – distort and disfigure many women. They forget their true identities. They believe they are dirty and worthless. They often feel vulnerable, unprotected and lost.
But they are not lost to God.
He knows who they are. He knows where they are. Just as my husband picked up my diamond out of the mud, God picks up hurting women out of their own muddy lives. He holds them in the palm of His hand and over time, gives them new hearts and new minds. He encircles them with His love.
And the results?
Their true identities are reclaimed.
Their beauty and value are enhanced after spending time in the mud.
They have new “sparkle” in their lives.
These “lost diamonds” are now secure in a new setting – a setting that is not only more beautiful than before but is also so secure, they can never become lost again.
2014 GateWay of Hope – The Helping Place for Hurting Women
Submitted by a GateWay Woman