A short time ago, I was doing laundry and when I took the lint out of the dryer, I heard something drop. Excitedly, I ran to Randy and asked him if he could help me – I thought maybe the little "clink" noise could have been my lost pearl earring falling to the bottom of the lint trap. We moved out the washer, then moved out the dryer, took apart the exhaust pipe to the outside, and sure enough – in the bottom of all the fuzzy gook was my shiny pearl earring. Randy meticulously took apart the trap and the pipes connecting to the wall and dumped out the contents so I could retrieve the tiny post. We put everything back in place, and went back into the living room – feeling very content and blessed. I had found my pearl! What a wonderful find.
A few minutes later were heard a very uncommonly loud noise. It was the sound of water hitting a wall with great force. We sprang up and could not believe what was happening. Apparently when we did all the moving, we forgot to put the hose back properly that empties the water into the sink. Instead of being pointing down, it was pointing parallel to the sink – and straight into our carpeted hallway. Gallons and gallons of water soaked the floor in only the 15 or 20 seconds that had elapsed. I had to jump straight through the water to get to the shut-off, and was soaked from the thighs down. Immediately, the water dissipated and Randy and I stared at each other in shock. To our horror, we knew the water was going downstairs into our basement. Randy ran downstairs to see a small waterfall, coming from the floorboards of the utility room. He grabbed up all the items that had gotten wet, moved the furniture and came back upstairs. Meanwhile, I was sopping up what I could with lots of towels, swishing around in the soapy water. We stared at each other for a moment, and then Randy said, "Well, I always wanted to thoroughly clean this floor". We looked at each other, all wet and soapy, and we had a good laugh.
After this night of excitement, it was time for bed. As we lay there talking, I told Randy how overwhelming the mini-flood situation could have been if he hadn’t been here. It was laughable because we were together – but alone, it would have been pretty stressful. I thought about what we had gone through all night long, just to retrieve a little pearl post. After cleaning up the laundry room, I had practically forgotten about it. What was more striking to me at this late hour was actually the pearl that lay beside me. Here I was next to a gem of a man who would take apart the house to find my tiny earring. He is my husband, who supports me in every crisis. He is the person who says the perfectly funny thing at exactly the right time. He is the love of my life that God gave me, one who comforts me when things go wrong. Although I was grateful to find my pearl this evening, I quickly realized that God was showing me something else. The greatest find on this day was not jewelry. Today, and every day, the greatest find is seeing the gem that God gave me as a marriage partner. That is the real pearl.
"Father, thank you so much for opening my eyes more and more to what is important. Things of this earth – possessions, jobs, furniture, cars, etc., will all burn up someday. These things aren’t the things you value. You value love. You want me to love you and love those around me. Thank you for loving me first, so I could learn. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for the precious gift of my husband – a treasure here on earth, just for me. Even more so, thank you for the gift of your son – for without him, my marriage would disintegrate. You give me blessing after blessing every day that I open my eyes. Thank you for so many gorgeous pearls in my life. Amen"
Feel free to e-mail Michelle your thoughts at mdiekmeyer@fuse.net