Wedding Ring

Well here it is after 16 years and it has never come off more than a couple days due to injury, and now it's beyond repair (out of shape and too thin to bend). Many of you know me and Jes have pretty much gotten rid of everything we own, and this is the last thing I have that has been with me through almost half my life now. I don’t consider myself a sentimental person but I have a strong feeling of not wanting to let go of this ring. As I think about being married at 19 not much more than a child and having it with me through 3 ½ years in the 82^nd it’s been out of the plane door with me a little over 30 times, and out one Blackhawk. It was on when I saw the ocean the first time and fell in love with it, for fishing trips to the Florida Keys, Bahamas, and Jamaica. Through buying our first house in Lacrosse, WI, our 2^nd in Douglas Georgia, and third in Ingalls MI. It was on when being at my sister’s wedding in Yaounde Cameroon and fishing the Lobe River in Negril not far from there. It was on for all my other brothers and sisters weddings. It was there for all my past jobs including contractor, heavy equipment operator, chimney mason, equipment mechanic, and most importantly my salvation and my growing walk with the Lord and into the mission field. It was on while meeting all kinds of awesome people and making friends for life. While seeing Ketchikan Alaska from a float plane, Notre Dame in Paris, pulling sunken beams from the bottom of a lagoon in Belize, sleeping in a cabana for 9 months. Countless fishing and hunting opportunities. The births of my five year old daughter Sage and my eight month old son Silas, and these are just the things off the top of my head. The girl that came with the ring has always supported me without the blink of an eye and never caused me grief. This ring has never caused me any pain except the one time my body hung from it off a dozer, and the second time my body hung from it off a very high chimney. And last time I got it a little hot after bumping it with a welder. As I think about this I want to put it in a frame and hang it on the wall but am reminded of Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So as I look at this ring I realize those memories have nothing to do with this piece of metal and has zero effect on my future with Christ. The only significance it has is what it stands for so without regret it’s time for it to go and I’ll get a cheap upgrade that can take the abuse I’ll give it.