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Restoring a Hidden Treasure: My Opal Ring

By Guest blogger, Melinda K. Taylor

Have you ever found a hidden treasure when you were not really looking for one? January 2018 I was visiting my daughter Crystal in Cincinnati Ohio and we decided to make a day trip to the small town of Thornton, Indiana, and not only did I visit my friend Phyllis, but I also found a treasure.

My friend wanted to show us around the town she lived in and loved. We walked up and down the streets looking at an interesting museum and the library she worked at. All of a sudden we came to the antique store in the middle of Main Street. We went in to look for what treasures we might find.

A little old man owned the store. For many years, it had been his business. It was a hobby for him now and a gathering place for other older men in the town. I was looking at jewelry, which I always do when I go to such stores. The man came up behind me and he said: “I have this box of rings and each ring is only six dollars.” Of course, I could not resist that!

I looked in this ring box and – oh my!!! There was a small opal ring. I love opals and I examined it carefully, turning it over and over in my hand. It didn’t look like much, all tarnished and dirty from years of neglect; but I could see the potential, so I gave the man the six dollars and walked out with the ring.

Restoring a Forgotten Treasure

When I got home I started thinking about the original owner. She must have had hands the same size as mine because this ring fit me perfectly. Was she a young woman or an older lady? Did she love this ring as much as I do? How did this ring get here? Did she loose it and someone found it? Did she take it to a pawn shop because she needed money?  If she was an older woman, did she pass away and her family took it to the antique dealer? I wondered.

I put the ring in jewelry cleaner and let it soak for about an hour. Then I got to work on it. I found an old toothbrush and scrubbed the ring. I even put a bit of toothpaste on it.  Lo and behold!! The luster started coming back.

The ring was sterling silver and there were little gold leaves on each side of the opal. The veins in the leaves started coming out showing the craftsmanship of the maker. The opal! Oh! That beautiful opal! The fire and the ice of that opal started glowing. My heart jumped with joy at the beauty of it. And just think, I rescued it.

Rescuing and restoring this opal ring to the beauty it was meant to display made me think of my own life before the Lord rescued me.

I felt like I had been abandoned even by God and my soul was battered and bruised by someone’s hurtful degrading words. I felt like that opal ring looked before it was cleaned up – tarnished, damaged. When I finally acknowledged Jesus as my Savior, I found that God had not forgotten about me.

“So I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

The accumulation of dust and dirt on my heart from all those years of abuse fell away and I was restored – like that tarnished opal ring when it was cleaned up and loved. The beauty that had been hidden inside me all those years shimmered and glowed in the loving care of God.lkhk

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us,

God rescued me and restored me just like I rescued and restored that opal ring. I was made new – just like my opal ring was made new – and you can be too!

Copyright@Melinda K. Taylor 2018

Thank you to Melinda K. Taylor for sharing her story with us! Do you want to read more stories of hope? Click right here. 

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