Tag Archives: Valentine’s Day

Music

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Some days I need to turn up the music loud, concentrate and breathe…just to turn down the sadness in my heart so I don’t fall apart. Today is one of those days.

Jason loved to brighten his family’s and friend’s day by surprising them with flowers, and his last Valentine’s Day was no exception. I had the privilege of going with Jason as he picked out the biggest and best bouquet of roses for the girl he took out on that last Valentine’s Day. His sister was going through a rough time, so he also picked out the biggest and best bouquet of roses for her to encourage her and let her know she was loved and valued. He was just so thoughtful like that.

Oh, my boy, how I miss you.

~Becky

A Great Treasure

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Diamond in the Rough - Photo from Wikipedia

A Great Treasure

Along the busy, dusty road of life a great and valuable treasure is lying in the road – an uncut, unpolished gem run over by the great wheels of circumstance, trampled by unheeding feet, overlooked by careless eyes.

Some have noticed it. Some have picked it up, looked at it no deeper than its dusty and unpolished exterior, deemed it of no value, and tossed it back in the dust. Some have thought they recognized value in it, compared it to other gems, and found it wanting. They decided it was of not enough brilliance to keep and that it would take too much work to bring out any beauty. They, too, tossed it back in the dusty road. Some have gone so far as to consider it valuable enough to check out a little further, and they have tucked it in a pocket for a while – only to forget about it and have it carelessly fall through a hole back underfoot on the well-trodden path.

This great treasure continues to languish on the rough and dusty path.

It has tried to catch the rays of sun, to be noticed for its own value, to reflect a brilliance it has observed in others. But it has picked up dust and dirt from the road in its crevices. It has been scuffed from the shoes that have carelessly trod on it. It has been dinged and scarred by the great wheels that have run over it.

Its great desire is to be cherished, cared for, and lovingly polished so that its true colors and brilliance can be seen. It wants to have a place of love and honor alongside other gems – gems whose intrinsic worth is valued and recognized.

Is it too great a hope that one day it may be polished and placed in its own special setting, worn to wonderful parties? How long does this great tragedy continue – that the potential of this wonderful, unique, uncut, unpolished gem be ignored? Who will take the time to find the real value in this great treasure?

I recently ran across this piece that I had written a long, long time ago. Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow – and all those ads for gifts of precious gems are everywhere –  I thought it might be a good time to share it as an encouragement to take the time to look for the value in the rough gems who may cross our paths.

There are many things I love about my husband. One of the things I love about Joe is that he is not one to place a higher value on some types of people over others. I’m talking about the artificial type of value. When Joe worked in the telecommunications industry, his territory included the major hotels in downtown Seattle. In his position, he worked with White House Communications and FBI when a president, vice president, first lady, or other dignitary came to town. He worked with the support staff for the president of South Korea. He worked on phone lines for Hollywood stars, professional athletes, and many more. The thing about Joe is that he sees value in people and treats them all with basic respect – whether it be the Hollywood star or the maid who cleans the toilet.

Jason was the same. He never knew a stranger nor met a person he didn’t like. He valued the people in his life and greatly valued his friends and family – and he showed that value by setting aside quality time to spend with them. Family and friends were important to him. He valued his friends’ parents and siblings, too, taking time to chat and honestly care about them should they answer the phone when he called. He saw the intrinsic value in people.

© 2012 Rebecca R. Carney