{"id":1550,"date":"2025-12-21T18:55:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T18:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/?p=1550"},"modified":"2025-09-02T19:24:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:24:39","slug":"the-seasons-most-valuable-lesson-a-diamond-necklace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/2025\/12\/21\/the-seasons-most-valuable-lesson-a-diamond-necklace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Season’s Most Valuable Lesson: A Diamond Necklace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u00a0<\/strong>
Every single parent\u2019s story is probably complicated, because real life can be messy. As Christmas draws near, I\u2019m now blessed to be married and live in a wonderful home of my own. Still, life was not always this easy. That\u2019s why the Christmas when I received the diamond necklace is the one that I will remember forever. Back then, as a single mother I wasn\u2019t expecting to get such a costly gift, especially not from my own son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raising a child alone, I found the holidays were the greatest reminder of the absence of family, or at least \u201cfamily\u201d in the traditional way that one expects will be part of the season. Our modest Yuletide celebration bore little resemblance to the sentimental TV commercials where joyful loved ones gather around a large dining table laden with delicious food, a colorful centerpiece, and flickering candles. On Christmas Eve, it was usually just Zach and me, because my mother and stepfather lived in another state, along with most of our relatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this\nfact, when Zachary was young, I tried desperately to achieve some sense of\nChristmas cheer, while operating within a very confining budget. I never\nexpected any presents, like many solo parents, I only cared that there would be\nsomething special under the tree for my precious youngster. Even the Christmas\ntree in our apartment was a hand-me-down from another once single mom who had\nremarried and graduated to greater economic stability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Christmastime, I tried to make sure there were lots of packages for Zach to open. Not expensive items, just tiny tokens of how grateful I was to have been granted the special privilege of raising him. My dark-haired sensitive boy never expected much or complained that there should have been more. He understood our \u201csituation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, there were generous family members and friends from work or church who realized that our circumstances were difficult. Sometimes little blessings like an unexpected gift certificate, toy for Zachary, or a Christmas sweater for me wrapped in festive paper appeared from unexpected sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cIt\u2019s more blessed to give than to receive,\u201d\nis an age-old Bible verse that represents the plight of the single-parent\nfamily best. You have to learn to give without expectation, because frequently\nlittle comes back. But this reminds you that the true meaning of Christmas was\nnever about gifts or trees, but rather about a tiny baby born in a Bethlehem stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was for most of those first twenty Christmases that my son and I spent together. Along the way, he became a man, moved out and began a life of his own. When Christmas Eve rolled around, a grown-up Zach arrived at my door to celebrate our tradition of enjoying the evening together. There was the usual church service, holiday snacks, and finally we opened our presents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he finished\nunwrapping his gifts, he looked at me with excitement as he proudly handed me a\nsmall box. I began to tear the decorative paper, expecting a pair of costume\nearrings or a gold plated bracelet as in years past. His eyes, eager with\nanticipation, focused intently on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lifting the lid\nof the ivory satin case, I tried to hide my shock. It bore the name of an\nexpensive jewelry store. I was barely able to swallow an audible gasp, when I glanced\ndown and saw a diamond pendant and glittering chain resting in the box\u2019s\nburgundy velvet lining. By now Zach\u2019s deep blue eyes were dancing with unrestrained\ndelight. Apparently, my son understood the importance of giving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, I\nhad not discovered how to graciously receive, since I had little practice. How much had this necklace cost him? <\/em>It\nlooked to be at least a \u00bc carat diamond circled by a thick band of white gold. The\nunmistakable sparkle of the stone left little doubt that it was real, and\nZach\u2019s ecstatic look confirmed its authenticity. The delicate pendant\nwas exquisite, but my faithful man-child worked hard for his money and he was\nin college too. I often felt guilty that I had not been able to financially\nassist him more in achieving his educational and career goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly, I thought about the Christmas sermon from the year before. The pastor had spoken about accepting gifts with appreciation and graciousness, never offending the giver. Sensing my discomfort, Zach abruptly said he wanted to tell me the truth about the gift\u2019s origin. He then shared the tender tale of a colleague who was a young single mom with a little boy. Needing some extra cash, she decided to sell the diamond pendant, because being a gift from a former boyfriend it didn\u2019t possess any sentimental value. Zach had simply purchased it to help her make ends meet, and to bless me with an amazing Christmas present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0All of a sudden, the diamond sparkled brighter and I looked at the glistening gold necklace with new appreciation. Instantly, I realized that Zach had seen our lives and struggles replicated in the life of his co-worker who was also a college student like I had been when he was just a toddler. My gift was a visible witness to the fact that my son had learned the most valuable lesson the season can teach, \u201cIt truly is more blessed to give than to receive.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Christina Ryan Claypool is an award-winning freelance journalist and speaker who has been featured on CBN\u2019s 700 Club and Joyce Meyer Ministries Enjoying Everyday Life TV show. Her recent inspirational book, \u201cSecrets of the Pastor\u2019s Wife: A Novel\u201d <\/a>is available on all major online outlets. She earned a M. A. in Practical Applied Theology from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and a B.A. from Bluffton University. Her Website is www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/a>.
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\u00a0Every single parent\u2019s story is probably complicated, because real life can be messy. As Christmas draws near, I\u2019m now blessed to be married and live in a wonderful home of my own. Still, life was not always this easy. That\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1046,1048,122,131,1044,1049,123,1050,307,328,1045,1047],"class_list":["post-1550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-child","tag-christimastime","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-tree","tag-diamond","tag-diamond-necklace","tag-gifts","tag-giving","tag-season","tag-single-mom","tag-single-mother","tag-son"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1550"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1965,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1550\/revisions\/1965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}