Lost and Found

Why, you ask, am I posting a photo of TRASH? Because I have a story to tell, and this pile of trash plays an important role.

Friday morning I woke up and realized immediately that my diamond engagement ring was not on my finger. Now, this is usually the case in the morning because I rarely sleep with it on. What concerned me was that I could not for the life of me remember taking it off the night before, nor where I had put it. Figuring it would show up in one of the usual spots, I decided not to worry about it, and rolled out of bed to begin the day. First task was to clean up the tissues I had thrown beside my bed during a night of blowing my nose (yes, I’m still getting over my cold). I grabbed the wad and went and threw them into the trash. (There, dear readers, is your first and only clue as to the location of the ring – was that obvious enough?)

Throughout the day I kept an eye out for my ring, but I was busy, so I didn’t think have time to search much for it. Not until Jeremy and I got home that evening from watching Fireproof did I finally give into my growing concern and shared with Jeremy just how worried I was about my missing ring. We brainstormed about where it could be, and came up with the theory that I had taken it off after going to bed Thursday night, and that perhaps it had gone with the for-mentioned tissues into the trash – horror of horrors! That prompted the first trash search, which my husband accomplished while I was taking my nightly soaking bath (oh-so necessary for this pregnant woman to get a restful night’s sleep). But no ring, so we prayed about it and then went to bed.

Saturday morning it was the first thing on my mind, and I spent an hour searching everywhere I could think before I had to put the search aside for a time to concentrate on my to-do list in preparation for the Sabbath. I even put on rubber gloves and went through the trash bag again before setting it outside to be taken to the dumpster. But all morning, as I went about preparing meals and baking and cleaning, I couldn’t get the missing ring off my mind, and I was almost constantly whispering a prayer over and over – “Lord, please help us find my ring!” It occured to me that this was probably the closest I had ever come to achieving the Bible’s exhortation to ‘pray without ceasing’.

That afternoon after Jeremy got home from work and ate lunch, he resumed the search for an hour, till we took a break for a much-needed nap. Then he was at it again, this time accompanied by the Boy and a flashlight, searching every cranny of the house that a ring might hide in. Furniture was moved, and other lost items were found, but not the ring. Jesse had fun with the flashlight, and I continued with my cooking. (a post about my marathon cooking day is forthcoming).

Finally, Jeremy had worked his way from the back end of the trailer to the kitchen, and decided to search the trash for the third time. By this time I had filled another bag of trash, and had neglected to keep track of which was the original suspect bag. So my faithful, uncomplaining man simply took the whole pile out on the porch and painstakingly sorted through the whole thing again. Meanwhile I was flipping the last of a quadruple batch of tortillas on my comal, and trying to get dinner in the oven.

Suddenly I heard the screen door open and I turned from the stove to see the smile I’d been waiting all weekend to see on my husband’s face. He held the ring triumphantly in the air and I fell into his arms, crying with joy and relief. He stepped over to the sink to wash it off, then came back and asked me again, as he loves to do, “Will you marry me?” and slipped the ring on my finger.

And that is the story of my lost and found ring, and my faithful man. But there is more…

Later that evening, as I lay in bed, spinning my ring around my finger, I thought back to the morning, and how I had gone about my work with a near-constant prayer on my lips for the return of my ring. It occured to me that there are far more important things we should be praying about with that kind of fervency…things like lost souls, broken relationships, ill health – the list goes on. Despite its personal value to me, I could name a dozen items on my prayer list that were even more important than that band of white gold and diamonds. The key is to pray for God’s heart for these issues, so that we may feel His sorrow and burden for the lost and hurting and thus be motivated to lifting them up in prayer. Without sharing His heart, we will never be able to achieve the fervent, unceasing prayer that is our calling.

With gratefulness to our Reedemer…

Trina