My daughter and I have loved collecting Pandora charms for our bracelets. It was always fun to go shopping at our favorite jewelry store to pick out charms that we wanted to add to our bracelets. My bracelet is more of a family event bracelet with charms that were engraved with names of family members and charms representing certain important days. My daughter’s bracelet was full of family events, Disney charms, and charms for her favorite sports team. We had talked about dividing her bracelet into two or maybe three bracelets so it would not be so full.

I remember the day that she told me she had lost her bracelet. She could not remember the last time she wore it. She just knew it was gone. She had looked everywhere. Then, we looked everywhere, again. She had always taken such good care of her jewelry. Neither of use could think of anywhere else to look. She was so devastated. I just thought it was gone and had even considered starting her over with a new bracelet. Some of the charms would be discontinued but she could make new memories. The jewelry store that engraved the names on the charms no longer carries Pandora but I had considered giving her my engraved charms.

My daughter is in the process of moving. All of the furniture has been moved but she was still working on the closets. I received a phone call yesterday from my granddaughter. With an excited voice she said, “Mommy found her bracelet!” I asked if it was her Pandora bracelet and she had to ask her mother. She came back and said, “Yes!” My granddaughter proceeded to tell me that it was in a purse on the shelf in the closet. My daughter took over the phone call and told me how it was in a small zipper purse inside of a larger purse on the top shelf of her closet. What amazing news. All of her memories that were represented by charms were safe. We were both beyond excited.

With all of the things going on in the world, a bracelet is not going to solve the problems of the world but it was a joy for this family. 

One of my favorite parables in the New Testament is about a woman who searched for a lost coin. This coin may have been part of her dowry or her family’s savings. What is important in the story is the urgency of the search. 

Luke 15:8-10 ESV “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’”

When she found the coin, she invited her friends and neighbors to celebrate with her. I have not enjoyed wearing my bracelet because my daughter could not wear hers. I think I need to celebrate by buying a Pandora charm or a new bracelet for my daughter to divide her bracelet. What joy we will have in wearing our bracelets and celebrating that she found her bracelet.