Restrung

     A young woman brought me her grandmother's Austrian crystal bead necklace awhile back and asked if I could update it for her. She wanted something more modern that she could wear rather than leave stuffed in the back of her jewelry box. As I appraised the aurora borealis coated beads, it was quickly apparent that many were in poor condition.

Early 1960's ab crystal bead necklace

  I went to work, first snipping the nylon thread that held them together. Then I sorted out the badly worn beads from the better. The necklace that had been two strands would now be one. Restringing the beads in a new pattern I added bead caps to cover the chipped crystal ends. When I finished, the necklace sparkled in every direction as light caught facets of the crystals and gleaming silver.  

   From time to time God needs to unstring my life to make me usable. Everything is right out there in front of Him, and with His practiced eye He sorts the good from the bad. I can become so used to the chips and wear that I fail to see I'm no longer reflecting His light. He sees it, and with a loving hand restrings my life with a fresh pattern, adding His own sparkle here and there as He deems necessary. The beads left laying in the tray are my sin and disobedience that I need to confess and ask Him to take away.

     Lord, here is my life - take away, add to, and rearrange it as you see fit!

"Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father..."     Matthew 13:43

"Unsigned Beauties"

     One of the first things I do when checking out a piece of vintage jewelry is turn the piece over and look at the back. This is where a maker's stamp, country of origin and precious metal content marks can be found. If the item is stamped DA Norway 925 it's of considerably more value than a similar piece with no identifying marks.

                                                                             

David Anderson Norway Sterling Silver Enameled Clip On

     Entire books are written for the purpose of helping you identify and value your vintage jewelry, and many of these line my book shelf. With this in mind, you can imagine my delight at finding a book titled, "Unsigned Beauties of Costume Jewelry", written by Marcia "Sparkles" Brown! A book filled with photos of beautiful pieces of jewelry that, for whatever reason, were unsigned by their maker. 

     It turns out that many pieces of jewelry are so close in design to certain marked pieces that they can be attributed to the same maker. As I examined my own collection, it was easy to see this was true. Some makers use the same details in their design and are easily identifiable, marked or not.

     Which made me think about our Maker... and what identifies us with Him...

     

     Though we bear no symbol declaring us followers of Christ, there are characteristics that identify us with Him. Those who belong to Jesus will wear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as a mark on their life. 

     Unsigned, perhaps, but identifiable as His!

"And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven."             1 Corinthians 15:49