A diamond beginning starts as an old junk of coal. Some coal beds lie within 2000 feet of the earth's surface. These beds are mined by stripping the top soil off the coal. Then the coal is dug out.
But, did you know that nothing will scratch or damage a diamond, while a diamond can scratch any other material on Earth. So what makes them so tough?
In my research, I found that everything is made from atoms, and these atoms are held together with chemical bonds. So, something’s hardness is determined by how tightly its atoms stick together.
For example, when a diamond scratches against a piece of metal, metal atoms are torn loose while the atoms in the diamond stay snugly in place. Why do the atoms of a diamond stick together so tightly?
All atoms form only a limited number of chemical bonds at one time. For example, hydrogen atoms form only a single bond. Diamonds are made from carbon atoms which can form four bonds at once the maximum number for any atom.
This means that each atom in a diamond is chemically linked to four of its neighbors in a rigid pattern. This is like tying something down with four pieces of rope instead of just one or two it makes each carbon atom very secure.
There are other kinds of atoms that make four chemical bonds, but none of them form substances as hard as a diamond. This is because carbon is the smallest atom that can join to four of its neighbors. Its tiny size lets the carbon atoms snuggle more closely together than other atoms can, creating a firmer, harder material.
It takes very high temperatures and pressures to pack carbon atoms tight enough to make a diamond. Without these, carbon atoms form materials like coal or graphite. Once they’ve been pressed into a diamond however, those carbon atoms are there to stay!
Further research reveals even after a rough diamond is mined, it still must go through an exacting and refining process, for cutting and polishing. First it must be marked by a marker as to where it should be cleaved (cut). Then it goes to a sawyer or cleaver who cut the diamond to bring out it's profile to determine it's shape. Cleaving can be done quickly with a sharp blow, but sawing is a lengthy process.
Finally, the diamond is worked on by highly skilled and specialized cutters, which cuts the general shape of the diamond. Then, the diamond is polished.
A diamond's brillance is the reflection of white light from facets. A facet is a flat surface that is cut into a diamond and then polished to increase the brilliance of the diamond beauty.
As I deposited this information, I began to realize how metaphoric the formation of a diamond, relates so closely to life's circumstances. I for one have been caught up in the bowels of the earth so to speak. I've encountered the raging pressures of this life, and started to sink. But, liken unto a diamond, I have a master marker in the personage of Jesus Christ. Who carefully examined me, while in my mother's womb and marked my beginning and end.
During this process, He determined my size, cut and shape. He allowed the lengthy process of the saw (life's pressure) in order to produce a diamond that was unique to any other. He sat back and watched the specialized cutters (abuse, unhealthy relationships, failed marriages, unruly children, failed promotions, etc) as they cut and formed the general shape of me.
However, He did not leave the cutters to ruin me. He watched and governed every aspect of the cutting process. In my mind I can imagine the Lord saying to the cutters: "Just a little bit off that side. No...you're cutting to much over there. Don't touch that side, it's fine like it is." Once the cutting was complete then the facets of the diamond could be polished. The facets are the many trials I've encountered in my life.
Did you know the facet is what maximize the brilliance of the stone? The flash and fire you see when you put a diamond in the light is called scintillation. The more the facets are polished the more brilliantly the diamond shines.
Now, as I began to embrace what I learned I realized God's truths. Truly, what Satan meant for my destruction God turned around for my good. If I had continued to live a life of bitterness and resentment, I would have never known that I am truly a diamond. Designed and created for a purpose. It is not what I've been through that matters much. It is who I am now, and because of Him who I'm purposed to be.
So, I made a choice not to be a victim but a voice. To illuminate in my life all the gifts that He has given me. To let the facets of my life shine with brilliance in order to encourage, support, assist, understand, cry, listen, partner with, be a partner for and love all women who may have forgotten they too, were marked by the master marker.
With this being said, I'm asking each of you to become a partner of the diamond club. To lend support and encouragement to women you may encounter, who may not realize that the facets of their lives (whether they are single women, baby mamas, crackheads, prostitutes, etc. If society gives them a name, those are the ones to encourage) are just as tiny carbons which attached themselves and create the hardest substance known to man, a diamond.
Will you answer this call? If you want to know more about the diamond club, please email me via the blog @ http://abuserecoveryoutreach.blogspot.com/ or miss.hester@yahoo.com.
Blessings!!!
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