Rescued Lamps And Lives

Rescued Lamps and Lives

He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.

Colossians 1:13

One of my favorite relaxations is resale shopping with my best friend, Marcia. As we were browsing at a place charmingly named Bearly Used one Saturday, I poked about looking for old wooden frames for my decidedly amateur acrylic paintings. Instead of frames, I spotted a row of lamps.

One lamp had a bird design on it. Then I saw there were two lamps with the same design, which looked strangely familiar. Where have I seen that design before? I realized it was on the large soup tureen and platter in my home, a gift from my husband, Byron, to his beloved first wife, Louise.

Carefully, holding my breath and expecting to find “Made in China” on the base, I looked underneath and almost gasped aloud. “Herend. Handpainted. Hungary.”

Without lamp shades or finials, but otherwise perfect, they were priced $$799. I carried them to the high school kid at the counter and said, “Are these $$799 apiece, or for the pair, because they match. See?” He said for the pair, so I scurried off with my gorgeous $4 lamps, which I kept telling myself were probably knockoffs.

The next day, I bought lovely silk shades and shiny brass butterfly finials, and then I looked on the Herend website and found that this lamp, the Rothschild pattern, was still available at $1,450 each. Mercy me!

Then I realized my own life was like one of my prized, rescued lamps. In 1986 I fell in love with golfer Byron Nelson. He baptized me into Christ on October 15, we were married on November 15, and we had nearly twenty beautiful years together. Now my life has the chance to shine and glow and shed light wherever I am because I’m connected to that eternal source of power, Jesus Christ.

—Peggy Nelson

My Lord, how can I ever thank you for rescuing me from my sins? I will praise and worship you all my life. Amen.