A Cross Necklace, a Conversation, & an Opened Heart

One day last month, a long drive had called for a stop at a little roadside coffee shop.

The sun streamed through the windows, music played freely, and my heart fluttered with the excitement of heading to my favorite summer camp.

As I waited in line, I noticed that the woman in front of me had a little silver pendant in the shape of a cross. I smiled to myself, and then felt this tug to speak up. “I like your necklace.”

“Thank you!” she replied with a smile. She pulled it closer to her heart, deep in thought for a few seconds. “You know, my dad gave this to me back when I was 14 years old, and I’m still wearing it. I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

“That’s amazing.”

We had only exchanged a few words, but somehow our conversation went far deeper.

I happened to be heading to the place where, at age 14, I too received a cross. Not a tangible one, but one that I held in my heart.

I had fallen for the beauty of what the cross meant. At age 14, my life changed for the better.

I don’t believe in coincidences. No, the single moments matter. The simple conversations matter.

Because one day, I too will be able to look back on my life, take in the wonder of the cross, and say “I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

I can’t believe it’s been that long.

Life is a journey. It’s a road that seems to stretch on forever, and yet the faithfulness of God never fails to meets us where we’re at.

It meets us in the single moments and the simple conversations. In the random rest stops at the little roadside coffee shops. In the words of total strangers–words that draw a connection of faith and hope.

Life is a journey. Faith is a journey.

As the road winded through mountains and the pines came into view, I knew that my heart had been opened.

I was ready to receive the cross here again, just as I had at age 14.

Keep the long view

The interaction in the coffee shop had a profound impact on me.

It made me think about my own life. It made me realize the importance of keeping the long view–You never know what waits on the road up ahead.

“Let your eyes look directly forward,
    and your gaze be straight before you.”

~ Proverbs 4:25, ESV

Years down the road, the painful moments will lie in the past. The long nights will have changed with the sunrise.

But every moment matters, especially the choices made at the forks in the road.

“Ponder the path of your feet;
    then all your ways will be sure.”

~ Proverbs 4:26, ESV

We can easily forget that our lives extend beyond this present moment. The choices we make right now will influence our futures.

Because life goes on.

Years down the road, I’ll be able to look back and see what has shaped my faith and my character. I’ll be able to see what left a permanent imprint on my heart, and what I left behind.

“I have taught you the way of wisdom;
    I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
¹² When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
    and if you run, you will not stumble.”

~ Proverbs 4:11-12, ESv

Looking back on the road, I’ll be able to see just how much I’ve grown since then.

I’ll see how God was making everything beautiful in its time, and how He stayed faithful through it all.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

~ Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV

And I’ll be able to say “I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

Take up your cross daily

When the road is still stretched out wide before you, it can feel overwhelming.

We all want to find meaning and direction to our lives. And when it comes to heading down this path, we want to leave more than just footprints in the dust behind us.

But after all the times that I stressed about finding God’s will for my life…

After all the times that I looked up at the sky and wondered how I could possibly do anything to serve my Creator…

I finally realized that God’s calling for us is rather simple.

It’s faithfulness. Simply seeking Him step by step, day by day, wherever life’s road takes us.

Simply trying to become a little more like Jesus with each new sunrise.

“Then he said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'”

~ Luke 9:23, NKJV

Recently I re-read this verse, and a single word stood out to me.

Daily.

I hadn’t noticed it there before.

You see, taking up your cross isn’t a one-and-done process. No, sanctification is a day-in, day-out commitment.

Faithfulness matters.

And staying faithful in the little things? That matters so much that we are called “to lead a quiet life” (1 Thessalonians 4:11, NKJV).

Keep it close to your heart

When I think about that moment on the drive to camp, I admire how the woman from the coffee shop still wore her cross necklace after all those years.

Throughout those many years, she kept her father’s gift close to her heart.

“Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.”

~ Proverbs 4:23, ESV

The beliefs that we hold within our hearts, the emotions that we cultivate within our hearts–These will change the way we live.

And more than anything, our hearts long for the security that can only be found in Christ alone. As one of my favorite quotes says:

“For You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You” (From Augustine’s Confessions).

Yes, my heart had been opened on the drive to camp–because it was time that it once again fell for the beauty of what the cross means.

It was time that my restless heart once again rested in the love of my heavenly Father.

“My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.”

~ Proverbs 4:20-21

Your Father gave you the cross. It’s His gift.

Hold it close to your heart forever, my reader. <3

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