I’ll never forget the panic welling up from the bottom of my gut all the way into my throat. Headlights were aimed through the fog at the landslide of cheeseburgers, broccoli and cheddar potatoes, and chili-soaked soggy fries that had been released from the dumpster behind my first place of employment – Wendy’s. With gloves that didn’t go far enough up my arms I searched perilously through the refuse for hope. At some point during my evening shift I had lost something precious, and the last place I had tried searching was in the tossed mush of fast-food leftovers. To my disadvantage, I had been an exemplary employee and rigorously kept on top of the trash bins in the restaurant… and thus lost my boyfriend’s class ring which had slipped off into their contents.

Little did I know then that it would not be the last time that I frantically searched for jewelry given to me by a loved one. You see, I seem to have a curse – I lose diamonds all the time!

Whenever I get dreamy-eyed over an anniversary band, or a sparkly pair of earrings, my husband levels his gaze at me and reminds me just how many diamonds I have lost since our engagement. In the past I have pleaded for diamond studs, and to my delight I opened a black velvet box for Christmas… only to lose one of them months later… So the next year I scoured the holiday ads for a good deal on diamonds to replace the earring I lost, and, again, to my delight, I opened a black velvet box for Christmas! And, again, I lost another stud months later… In fact, it has become a practice for me to keep the remaining stud, and mix and match my leftover diamonds. Last year I opened another black velvet box for Christmas to find four pairs of cubic zirconium studs to use as “back-up” to my inevitable future losses. I can still hear the muffled laughter of my husband, who was completely delighted in his devious gift!

But it’s not just diamond earrings that I lose! I have lost four, maybe five, diamonds from my beautiful custom designed, vintage inspired engagement ring! I have lost diamonds all around the world: North America, Europe, the Middle East… Do you remember the country song, Lost and Found, by Brooks & Dunn?

It’s kinda like a lost and found
In a border town
You’re askin’ ’bout a diamond ring
They just look at you
Like you’ve lost your mind
Say they haven’t seen a thing

We were literally in a border town of Egypt at a retreat when I looked down at my ring finger and realized I had lost another diamond. Fifty people were on their hands and knees in the conference room looking for a tiny diamond. I searched our hotel room, the hallways, the dining hall, everywhere. I finally went to the front desk and reported a missing diamond. It was just as Brooks & Dunn had penned in their lyrics, they just looked at me like I’d lost my mind and said they hadn’t seen a thing.

One thing this curse has proven to me over and over again is that God loves me and he proves it in the details. I say this a lot – so much so that I put the time into designing a coffee mug with that quote in my shop! Let me go on to explain how God uses diamonds to prove this to me.

My engagement ring is so unique that it’s hard to find diamonds to replace the missing ones, so often times I end up with close approximations (but different enough to drive an OCD person mad). We were in Cyprus for a week when I realized that I’d lost another diamond. Cyprus is kind of like Las Vegas in that corner of the world. Well, maybe more like Gatlinburg, TN. They have the market on quickly planned destination weddings. They have diamond stores, wedding chapels, and honeymoon packages by the dozens, most of which are fairly inexpensive! To my delight there was a diamond store across the street from our hotel. We went in and told the sad story of my curse. The jeweler looked at my ring and offered a morsel of hope. He had a diamond dealer coming to the store within the hour. If he could keep my ring for the next hour, he could see if he could match the diamonds. “This is a unique ring,” he informed us somberly. “The chances are low.”

We accepted the risk of leaving my engagement ring with this man, who seemed fairly trustworthy. We also prayed that God would protect our decision to do so. Then we waited. An hour later our hotel phone rang and an exuberant jeweler was on the other end announcing that he had found a nearly perfect match! He was astounded! We were astounded! Of all the replacement diamonds I’ve had in this ring, this was by far the best (and the least expensive)!

Most recently, I lost another diamond stud. I mentioned it, didn’t I? I’m cursed! We were at my parents’ house over a month ago celebrating my nephew’s birthday. I reached up to scratch my ear and noticed the diamond was gone. I groaned – deep and loud and long. Not another one! My husband heard the groan from the other room and recognized it as the “lost diamond” groan. He joined me. Yes, we have a communal groan for just this sort of thing! My family helped me look for it, but to no avail. I didn’t even pray that it could be found. I just gave up and got out the back-up cubic zirconium pair.

Then, last week, my parents posted a picture of a diamond stud on the family group chat! Does this belong to anyone? the chat read. Yes! How?! I hadn’t even hoped we could find it! Apparently when my father was emptying the vacuum canister over the large trash can (the opening to this trash can is easily double the size of the vacuum canister), half of the canister contents fell outside the trash can to the floor. Annoyed, because this doesn’t usually happen, he picked up the mess. When he did, he noticed the diamond stud!

Diamonds are certainly not a live-or-die item, but it’s cases like these that I know God loves me, and he proves it in the details.

I’m just wondering, what other coincidences happen to us, and, if we really looked into the marvel of their timing, we would find God proving his love for us in the details? You run into a friend at a Home & Garden show who, in a five minute conversation, matches you up with the exact resource you’ve been praying for? Your budget is just shy of the luxury of dining out, when good friends invite you out to join them at your favorite restaurant (and they’re paying)? You find yourself a very long way from home, but find a restaurant nearby that very much reminds you of home? You buy a new house, and your neighbors turn out to be just the friends you need?

God LOVES the details! Think about all the details he planned for the temple – down to the candlesticks! Think about all the details he lovingly revealed over thousands of years that he put together for the Jesus’ incarnated arrival to this earth! Think about the details he put into play for Joseph’s arrival into Egypt and Moses’ exodus from Egypt! Think about the details involved in the last miracle you witnessed! Think about the details designed in nature! If God is big enough to be in the big things, he’s certainly big enough to be in the small things! God LOVES the details!

God loves you, and he proves it in the details!

Thanks for reading!  This is just one of my ways of putting a smile back in the world!