The Hidden Diamond
by
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Anguish cascaded from the deepest crevasses of my soul at what I had done. While gasping for breath, I lunged toward my final chance for mercy and begged God to hear my pleas. I had needed to divulge my story, no matter how horrific. For far too long, I had carried these secret burdens. They weighed me down as if concrete blocks encased my feet. But now as I exposed my innermost secrets and chipped away this concrete, the weight lifted. My insides screamed out, imploring Randy to say something—anything. The silence hung in the air like heavy, damp curtains that smothered our faces and impeded air flow to our lungs. As if turning a rusted lug nut, I twisted my head and stared into Randy’s moss-green eyes. He stayed motionless in the rocker, I feared, frozen from shock. I had just spilled into his lap my most private, inner secrets. Could he read my plea for compassion? The silence tore at me as sharpened claws to bare flesh. Randy twisted his head. Two flawless malachite eyes pointed my direction. Whether they harbored disdain or compassion, I could not tell. I ached for the latter, yet deserved the first. Randy’s mouth hung open. Time stopped as I awaited a comment—anything—to fall from his lips. Instead, thunderous silence met my ears. The deafening silence continued as Randy tipped his head toward his lap then in a slow methodical motion lifted it. “Jesus died on the cross to absolve you. God hears your anguish, and I believe He mourns for you. He has mourned since that first day when you were violated. Today He hears your appeals for forgiveness and rejoices.” My eyes strained as I stared at this young man. The final beams of the low setting sun illuminated his silhouette, highlighting golden hair, barely long enough to arch across his forehead. Randy blinked twice. A look of stunned disorientation distorted his features. “It took great courage to tell me this. … Why did you?” I no longer could hold it in. I didn’t know what had changed, but the person whom I perfected to be had somehow cracked open, shattering my carefully formed outer shell. Now all I had left was this fragile, vulnerable creature with whom I didn’t know what to do. What had happened to me? A sudden compulsion to further share took over my sensibilities. I leaned in toward Randy like an old hen and clucked out word after word. “I believe it was your son, that first day he knocked on my door. When I opened it a sense of dread flushed through me, but at the same time something illuminate like a flash of bright light. From that very moment, my life began to change. Your child somehow broke through every barrier I constructed throughout my entire seventy-one years. He crumbled them into piles of dust then swept the mounds away. I feel as if a stranger to my own self. … I haven’t a clue what to do with this new person inside of me.” My fist thumped against my chest. An expression of merriment splashed across Randy’s face as he chuckled. “That does sound like my Dakota. He has a way about him, I will never understand. He always could walk through any barrier as if it never existed.” “How do I move forward? My life is a mess, and I haven’t much time to clean it up. Is it too late for me?”
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About the Book
Aldous takes pride in his well-formatted ability to remain in control. To achieve such a goal, he securely locks deep within himself all elements from the seven decades of his past that could shake his precisely placed footing. Then a new family moves across the street, and with it, a five-year-old boy named Dakota with an uncanny ability to gnaw under Aldous’s skin. Bit by bit, Aldous’s carefully placed façade peels away, allowing God’s enduring love to push Aldous to face his past and bring him to his knees, asking God’s forgiveness while finding new freedom. To forgive is to give up on the wish for a different past so that we might embrace the present. The Hidden Diamond is a powerful story of forgiveness. As a survivor of many forms of abuse, including molestation, I have made it a lifetime mission to break those chains of abuse so that I would not pass that curse onto my children. The Hidden Diamond developed out of my struggle to heal and find peace. I steadfastly believe God loves us all. God never gives up on anyone, even those whose sins have brought far more harm than good into this world. I formatted Aldous’s character from my effort to forgive and understand what demons had tormented those who had violated my childhood. Writing has become one of my most important healing tools. In my journey toward wholeness, I have learned that forgiveness is a crucial ingredient. We each have wounds that beg to be mended. Only God’s love provides us the strength so that we may forgive and fully heal.
About the Author
Crystal MM Huntley grew up in an abusive home like far too many among us. Not wanting to pass that misfortune onto her children, Crystal began her healing journey when their precious lives motivated an intense determination within her to break the chains of abuse. The therapeutic traits of journaling became a large part of her healing efforts, and through that exercise, Crystal developed a passion for writing. Crystal has been writing for over 20 years. During that timeframe, she has taken numerous writing courses, studied under many successful authors, and attended several writers' conferences, most through American Christian Fiction Writers and Called to Write. She became a member of a national writers group, attended monthly regional meetings, and taught various writing classes, including ones through a local summer-school program and other workshops. Crystal writes passionately on issues close to her heart, using her experiences. She writes with the desire that her words will help others who also have been wounded by abuse to find their way toward healing. Crystal resides in the pristine northern woods of Michigan with the love of her life and their precious Westie. Together they enjoy the abundant wildlife around them that serves as daily entertainment.