Refining Silver

So, my dearest most precious friend Jen sent me an email the other day, and I loved it...I needed to read that...I've been in a bit of a slump lately, and I have been thinking about so many things, trying to do so well in school, and struggling a bit here and there, and it was just perfect. I don't want to stay the way I am...I want to change, be refined, ultimately being purified each and every day a little more...

It's just so easy to forget the "grand scheme" of things, and

so I guess we need little nudges every now and then...I just thought how awesome, to be refined new a little more and more every day...

This is the email I got from Jen:

Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God...

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her

curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

(I know this first picture is very small, but it is a man holding his piece up to the flames...the "slow cooker" for silver and other precious metals)

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ' He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, ' Oh, that's easy --when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

These are a few pictures of Maker's Marks...Hundreds of years old, and yet, even today, they are recognizable; Those who are interested,and even knowledgable can look at these, and discover exactly who created them; they can find out as much information about the piece, and its creator that are indefinitely bound to each other as they desire...

This piece is from London, England made in 1729. This is a tea strainer.

This piece was created in London in the early 18th century; it is a silver coffee pot.

Pass this on, someone needs to know that God is watching over them.

And, whatever they're going through, they'll be a better person in the end.

' Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.'

Thank you God, for teaching me to laugh again......

but please Lord, don't ever let me forget that I cried..."

And that was the end of the email~ But I just love this~these things are beautifully master-crafted, and each piece is unique, not any other piece is exactly alike...Just the fact that it takes so much time, sweat and effort to create each piece, is just awesome...Have you ever seen silver-smithing up close and personal?

It really is an incredible process....to literally watch the impurities just melt away, to see something so crude turned into a beautiful masterpiece...it's awesome...

And the fact that the older each piece is, the more its worth, especially with it's Maker's Mark on it...but ours is most invaluable...in every sense...it makes us who we are...

Sometimes all we need is a change of perspective to feel refreshed, and to be able to look at things from the outside in, or the long run as opposed to what is right in front of us this very moment which can just flat out be way to much...I'm so lucky to have friends that say I can help them do that; and I'm even more soooo super glad for friends that can do that for me!