Saturday, January 11, 2014

The tale of two pendants

Last year I sorta realized something...that I was never truly happy with presents that people give me...even though some people might say "it's the thought that counts.." I couldn't reconcile that....and my primary love language is gifts (people whose love language is gifts are supposed to be happy when they receive gifts..!!) Somehow there seemed to be a leak in my love tank and that some of the love would seep out and I would never be satisfied...

For my 24th birthday, my best friend gave me a very pretty diamond and rose gold cross pendant and necklace...she was really excited about it and could hardly contain her excitement and couldn't wait for me to open the present and put it on.
At that time I was rather tanned and the color of the rose gold pendant just melted into my skin and it was also a tad short...it looked gorgeous on my friend though..she's slim and fair (exactly like what I wished to be actually! Even now..) and I was really upset.. with the gift and with my friend..cos it was unflattering on me and highlighted the things that I wanted to be but wasn't.....we ended up going back to the shop to purchase a longer necklace which was two inches longer but cost a hundred dollars more (which I was sorta jumping up and down at how expensive it was..) and I tried to rectify the situation by telling my friend how much I loved the design of the pendant (I do..) and how the straight vertical line represents God's truth and the curvy diamond horizontal line represents God's grace and mercy. But I think I must have traumatized my friend a fair bit cos she never did get me another gift like that and would usually just get me vouchers..

Ironically now a decade later, the cross pendent is one of my favourite pieces of jewelry and I love it so much that I even chose my wedding ring to match it...

This year for my birthday, I received a pendent from another friend...she's a few years older and works in church and I know that she loves me a lot from the way she answers my phone calls.,.when she realizes that it's me, her voice changes to a cooing and delighted tone..she's the friend who has really helped me a lot in my journey to wholeness and provided a lot of godly counsel and I'm really grateful to her...and the present....she put a lot of thought into it and said that she had considered a few items...books (too heavy for migration), food (eaten quickly and forgotten), cash (spent and easily forgotten too)..and finally decided to get a pendent with a pearl in the middle surrounded by diamonds and white gold. 
I was really touched when I received it.
She asked me if I liked it and gave me the option of changing it for something else. 
I told her that I did like it and that I will wear it and think of her often.
To be truly honest, it's not a design that I would have choosen for myself and I was surprised that I had refused the offer to change it...and I really did appreciate the gift very much...

And to my greatest joy, I think this means that God has finally sealed the leak in my love tank!! Now I can receive gifts without being worried about being disappointed and reply sincerely: "it's the thought that counts.."

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