One evening this week, my ten year old brother was searching through my sixteen year old brother’s things, trying to find a lost wallet. I don’t know if he ended up finding the wallet or not, but he did discover something fascinating—an old metal thing, with the name “Nat” inscribed on the outside, and a tiny picture of a man on the inside. It is about 15 mm in diameter, so pretty tiny!
There is nothing on the outside edge that would have made it possible to put on a necklace (no little loops or anything), and it wasn’t made to snap onto clothing as a button—we tried that out, and it didn’t work.
I asked my brothers how they had found it, and the older brother said he had seen something shiny in the garden while he was cultivating, and picked it up. It was covered in dirt, so he soaked it in water and then cleaned it off. Afterward, he put it in with his other odds and ends, and forgot about it.
Then our younger brother was looking for his wallet, and found it—and seeing that it was made up of two different pieces, tried to open it! After prying it apart, this is what he found. In an attempt to find out who the man was, the boys popped his picture out to see if there were words underneath, but there were none—and in the process of putting it back in, some of the picture flaked off. They decided we ought to take a photograph of it before it gets any worse!
Have you seen anything like this before? Do you know what it could be? None of us can figure any more out than what has already been stated.
In other news, I’m working on writing a guest post for my cousin Kendra Stamy at A Proverbs 31 Wife. So far, the task has proven challenging, but I’m enjoying it. Lots of interesting thoughts coming out about books and why we read what we read. Praying that I’ll be able to encourage someone through this opportunity! I’ll share the link on here once the post is published.
Also, I’ve been working on memorizing Psalm 67 the last two weeks. So far, so good—almost through the chapter now. I did get a little stuck on verse four, but I think I’m getting it. Just need to remember that verses three and five are exactly the same, and get six and seven down pat yet. I’m getting there!
I decided to put the verse on my computer desktop until I get it memorized, so I won’t forget to practice it.
I also need to get this month’s newsletter written and sent. AFTER the guest post is written! I need to send out the last giveaway prize today—just heard back from the last winner this morning—and then that job will be done. 🙂 There are a couple other emails related to the giveaway that need replies yet, but they’ll be taken care of soon.
And along with all of that, I’m trying to ignore the insistent summons from a recent fascinating story, The Destiny of a Few by Sarah Holman, to finish reading it. Hey, I just got on Amazon to get a link for you, and I see that the Kindle version is currently free! Get it now if you can! I’m about halfway through the book, and thoroughly enjoying the adventure, even though I don’t completely agree with some of the views put forward in the book. If I can hold out until my work for today is done, then I can indulge in reading. I think.
Hope you’re having a great day, and if you have any ideas about what this mystery object is, my brothers and I would be glad to hear your thoughts.
He he he….. “insistent summons”… I like that. It’s good to have a strong inclination toward something; a pull that ultimately gives you a sense of purpose. Maybe there is something in it for you?
Proverbs 31 is such a fascinating chapter. So many Christians that I know read it, especially women, or men who want their wives and daughters to live by it. But I’m often struck by how few seem to see what I see in it.
When most people think of a ‘virtuous woman’, they inevitably think of a woman who is kind, gracious, modest, supportive of her husband, a good ‘keeper at home’. A lot would add to that list, a ‘regular church attender, who is supportive of the church and all who sail in her.’ Some even draw maternal characteristics into the equation: “She is a good mother” etc.
All are true, to a large extent. But I have other thoughts on it, which I will share with you. At the very least, they may interest you. At best they may completely revolutionise the role of the woman in a marriage type relationship! 🙂
Firstly, Proverbs says:
…The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.
That’s the first thing…. she does him good (not evil) ALL the days of her life!…. I don’t think that I’ve ever heard that being preached. That includes BEFORE she is married! Now, how does she do that? By working toward her future, her marriage, her future family… by preparing…. by not being selfish…. by saving….. by investing….. by engaging with him….. by working toward the common goal that her future husband will also have…. that is to say, a matrimonial home and family unit. She will obviously keep himself in order too, as much as lies within her. In times past, this was nominally done by way of a ‘glory box’, which was kind of quaint. But I’m talking about investing in a woman’s own character and life.
There was a woman who I knew, who had a LIST of criteria for her future husband, and who wouldn’t move an inch toward him until she felt that God had directed her to do so, who was lamenting that she was single. She was also spending her earnings on overseas travel, on whatever she fancied and would not engage with her beau in a meaningful way. It really struck me, that why would her future husband have ANY confidence in her being someone in whom he could ‘safely trust’, if she was not doing anything to prepare for her own future? No matter how ‘nice’ she might be, personally I would struggle with that. Equally, a woman who chooses to take out a massive student loan, but who has no intention of fully utilising her resulting qualification, preferring instead to have a family. I wondered “Why would a woman who wants a big family, also incur a huge student debt that she accrued in gaining a qualification that she is highly unlikely to use? To my mind, ultimately, such a woman would be expecting her future husband to foot the bill, whilst also providing her with a family and a home. As she would have spent all of her time studying, she may be unlikely to have savings and therefore little contribution to matrimonial life. Therefore the full burden falls on the man, and the resulting stress that “We can’t afford to pay the bills” is likely to be put at his door, rather than hers. And here we have a basis for many arguments and stresses in a marriage. How many times have I seen this? DOZENS. That is not to say that it is ALWAYS the case, but often it is. I think that often a lot of marital stress could be avoided if both man and woman realised that they are supposed to do good to each other ALL the days of their lives…. including their teenage years. For a man to spend a fortune on an education that he is scarcely able to use seems crazy also…. It would be much more prudent to decide on a path in life TOGETHER and work toward it, as opposed to each partner doing their own thing, meeting, getting married and dealing with the consequences of a mis-spent youth (even a pro-social mis-spent youth!) for the rest of their lives.
Then there is something else that I notice: I’m curious as to how many ‘virtuous women’ who are Christians are so meek and mild…. and they allow their husbands to make all the decisions and seem to almost completely abdicate to their husbands. All this can be wonderful (as long as the husband doesn’t abuse it!)….. but there is one thing that Proverbs 31 says, which I don’t tend to see so much….. It is this:
“She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.”
She buyeth a field??? Such would seem to suggest that she can engage in business affairs, even to the extent of buying a field! Imagine being married to someone with such initiative and acumen; someone who had prepared for marriage, saved, and worked…. had invested and done the groundwork for a wonderful future. Such a woman would not be ‘dependent’ on her husband. Rather, she would add value to all that he does, but being an able and articulate woman, who is walking in the same direction as a virtuous man would be, and both then would walk side by side by choice and by nature – not because of a matrimonial dictatorship or a sense of duty. In being married to a woman like that, a man truly could safely trust in her…. and it’s likely that his BIGGEST concern would be in trying to live up to her standard, and being that type of man that such a woman deserves.
These are just thoughts – and I’m sure that many would disagree, but that’s ok – they are just my own observations.
Finally, regarding your ‘find’ in the garden. I think that it is a locket – the small attachment by which it may have been suspended from a chain would have only been soldered on and is likely to have fallen off whilst in the garden. That’s my guess. Either way, it’s a neat find! 🙂 It may even be silver.
God bless you all 🙂
Ross
Re: Mystery Object
Hi, I’m keeping this short because of the email that I have already sent, but in todays Ashburton Guardian there is an article on a very similar find…. I have photographed the article and will send it to Emma for you to see 🙂
Take care,
R
Thank you! I look forward to reading it. Sounds interesting.