Lost

I hate when things get lost. I can spend a lot of time looking for something that I lost. Especially if I know, or think I know, the general area where it may have gone astray. I really, really, need things to be where they are suppose to be, which is where I want them, of course!


So this is the story of a lost ring. But not just any ring. The ring that my dad made when he was a teenager, from a quarter. He made a hole in the middle of the quarter with a nail, and then beat it with a hammer, around and around and around until, over the course of several weeks, he fashioned a ring. It was a pretty amazing ring. You could still make out some of the ridges from the edge of the quarter on the inside of the ring. But from the outside, you would have never known that it was made from a coin. The ring came up in conversation at my parents house about a year ago, and the decision was made to give the ring to Stuart. This is where my concerns begin. This is a sentimental ring. Stuart is 16. Stuart is a guy. I'm not sure this is such a good idea.


But Stuart liked the idea. And the ring. He wore it. A lot. A few months later, I noticed he hadn't wore it for several days. I asked the dreaded question. Where's the ring?


"I lost it".


My heart sank. My stomach ached. But where? How? Why didn't you tell me? (ok, that was a no brainer. ) It turned out, he had taken the ring off in fear of losing it while he was playing a game, and the shorts had a hole in the pocket........They had back tracked and searched but with no luck. For several days, I felt sick. This ring was what my dad had made. It couldn't be replaced. For several weeks, I would think about calling the places he had been to see if it had turned up. And after several months, I accepted that it was lost. I still felt sad when I thought of it, but I conceded that life would go on, and I went on.


Many months later I walked into my kitchen and found a silver ring lying on the counter. I held my breath, picked up the ring and looked inside. There were the ever so slightly visible ridges. The ring was back! But how? When? Where? It turned out that Stephen had been cleaning out his truck and found this ring, not even realizing that it was THE ring. But how did it get in his truck? We didn't look there. It wasn't where I thought it was lost. It wasn't found by any of the methods that I was sure would work. How could this have happened this way? Ok, it doesn't matter. The ring is back, and the heart that had sank, now soared.


Immediately when that thought crossed my mind, the Spirit said to my heart, " And those who you love that are lost, will be found. It may not be how you think, by what methods or means you would plan. But, I, the God who knows where that ring has been all this time, know where the lost are, as well as I know the time and place they will be found."


And my heart that had sank, now soars.