I have a confession to make… I lost my Pandora bracelet. While I know it’s normal to lose things, as a professional organizer, I consider it an absolute failure when I lose anything. I mean, I have a reputation to uphold for crying out loud! For over a decade, I have helped hundreds of people establish unique systems to optimize their productivity, efficiency, and overall well-being. It’s my God Given Gift to help others minimize and simplify their lives by donating what they no longer use and love and storing the remaining items in common sense homes. Common sense is key… until the organizer’s common sense fails and her precious Pandora is nowhere to be “homed”.
Yup, I failed… sigh. For well over a month, I’ve been searching for the bracelet I designed with pink, silver, and crystal charms, representing many special moments of my life with my husband and son. Yes, I know it is a worldly piece that will not follow me to heaven. However, while I am on earth, I treasure all the moments this bracelet represents. At first, I was in shock when it wasn’t in its normal home. I was devastated when my search produced only emptiness. Yup… I looked in all the commonsense places. I finally decided to let it go for my own sanity. Of course, then the Christmas commercials started… and Pandora magically had advertising plastered all over the place. Ugh! Just when I had let my loss go, the loss was calling me back into unhappiness, even worse… HOPElessness.
When all HOPE seemed lost, God showed up. Now, I know many of you will think I need to arrange a visit to the looney bin when you read these next few lines… I get it. However, I assure you, I am not off my rocker. As I was getting ready for work one morning, God showed up in His omnipresent self. As I went to reach for my earrings, He silently spoke to me, “Don’t put your earrings on, look for your bracelet.” Did I listen? Nope! I didn’t want to be late. As I went to put my right earring in, He reiterated, “Look for your bracelet now.” Okay… now, He had my attention. I proceeded to look in the cabinet I was standing in front of… nope… not in the top shelf. “Look on the middle shelf,” He said. And… on the middle shelf, behind a box, sat a pretty, pink basket… ironically named “Horizon of HOPE” (yup, I’m a Longaberger basket girl!). At that moment, a flood of HOPE came over me. As I took the basket out and opened the wooden lid, I stared in awe at my Pandora bracelet. I could barely contain myself as I flew down the stairs to show my hubby.
Since finding my lost bracelet, I have been curious about the story of Pandora… the Greek mythology, along with the jewelry company. The mythological story of Pandora tells of the first human woman who was created by the gods. She was gifted with beauty, brains, curiosity… hence, Pandora means “all-gifted”. Without getting into all the details, Pandora was also gifted a box from Zeus with a directive to never open it. Some gift! Yes, Santa… please give me a gift with a label that says, “Do not open… ever.” As the story goes, her curiosity got the best of her. Shocker! Upon opening it, evil in the form of sickness, death, turmoil, strife, jealousy, hatred, famine, and passion filled the earth. While most of you have heard this story of Pandora’s box, I bet you didn’t know that along with all the evil, there was something else in that box. I certainly didn’t. Perhaps I fell asleep during that part of the story in high school English. Guess what was also in that box? Wait for it… HOPE. I had no idea this mythological story about evil also contains a message of HOPE. I had no idea, but God did.
There are many interpretations of the HOPE within this box. Some say HOPE fluttered from the box, touching the wounds created by all the evil Pandora released. Other variations keep HOPE in the box, separating it from the many evils… causing HOPE to stand out as a positive force within the box. Regardless of whether the HOPE remained in or emerged from the box, I find God’s presence in all of it… causing me to have a different perspective of this mythical story. Romans 8:28 reminds me that “all things work together for good to those who love God”. Yes, ALL things… a failing grade, a financial crisis, a rejection, a professional failure… even a lost bracelet. I find HOPE in all of it because of God’s GRACE in all of it and His love for all of us.
In researching the Pandora jewelry company, I discovered that the founders embedded the message of HOPE into their story. By wearing a Pandora piece, they HOPE their customers are inspired to spread positivity and HOPE around them… much like Pandora’s ultimate gift of HOPE in that box. God’s unconditional love gave me a gift of “pandoric” proportions that I am now able to share with you… years after owning the bracelet. It’s a HOPE-andora story… HOPE within it, around it, and abounding about it. Not only do I have a new take on the Pandora’s box story, but my bracelet has a new life as it sparkles, glistens, and glitters messages of HOPE… “pandoric” HOPE.
Through a new perspective of HOPE, my lost bracelet carries a new story of HOPE… a HOPE-andora story. Only God can take a story of loss, emptiness, even HOPElessness and transform it into a message all about HOPE. I remain in awe of God’s wisdom, power, and HOPE messages. He continues to amaze me each moment, each minute, each day with His new HOPE insights. As I reflect on Pandora’s “all-gifted” meaning, I see how God gifted me with HOPE… a gift of HOPE that I open each day, each minute, each moment. My faith in God continues to grow as I read His Word, feel His presence, and listen when He speaks to my soul… especially when a loss questions my professional identity and my common sense fails. God’s “all-gifted” gift becomes my HOPE-andora present.
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