The Ring
This past weekend was very difficult.
On Saturday afternoon, we had our church picnic. Sometime after 4:00, Moriah and I arrived at Saskatoon Island Provincial Park, where several of the other members of the congregation were. We ate around 5:00, and then Moriah and I took a walk over to the nearby playground. Moriah and I took turns on the swing and then returned to the main camp area to get ready for a car rally and a scavenger hunt, which took up the rest of the evening.
Late that night, when we returned home, I was going to take a shower. I usually take off my wedding ring before showering (to keep it from getting soap scum on it). But on Saturday night, I reached for the ring and found nothing there.
I didn’t sleep much that night. The ring, we thought, must have fallen off at the park or at one of the stops we made on the car rally and the scavenger hunt or even at the place where we had the bonfire at the end of the evening. For that matter, it may have fallen off somewhere in the house, too. And I’m so used to having it on that I didn’t even notice when it fell off. In fact, even when I’m not wearing it, it feels as if it’s still there!
We got up early on Sunday morning, drove back to the park, and spent almost an hour combing the grounds in the cold rain, but to no avail. God gave me the strength and clarity of mind to lead two services and preach. And then, that Sunday afternoon, Moriah and I drove to Edmonton for her immigration doctor’s appointment on Monday.
The trip to Edmonton and back was enjoyable. We stayed with friends, Rob Betty and Arlette Zinck, who blessed us with their hospitality and with a beautiful wedding gift. On Tuesday, Arlette flew off to England to make a presentation on John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress while her husband Rob headed out for a golf tournament. Moriah and I did some shopping, went to her doctor’s appointment, and then roamed West Edmonton Mall, before driving home. We arrived home a little before midnight.
As I said, it was a very enjoyable trip. Except that the ring was missing. In the midst of our enjoyment, we’d feel the ache of the loss.
This morning, I woke up, intending to drive back to the park and search again. Perhaps it could have fallen into the sink. If so, it would be in the trap under the sink and we might be able to retrieve it. Or perhaps it fell in the trash. Even then, we might still be able to search through it and find it.
Juanita Joosse, a member of the congregation, called this morning. She and her mother, Mrs. Barendregt, who is visiting for a while, offered to go with us to the park to help us look. Juanita picked us up at about 11:00 and drove us out to Leo & Yolanda Wattel’s place to pick up her mother and to look at the photos that were taken during the picnic.
And just at that moment, Mrs. Barendregt reached over my shoulder and handed me a ring box.
She and Juanita had gone out to the park on Monday. They dug through the trash. They hunted under the clover. They wandered over the grounds. And at last, forty minutes later, they looked near the swing. And there they found it. Both of them spotted the edge of it at the same time. It appears that it must have fallen off while I was pushing Moriah on the swing.
Needless to say, we’re overjoyed. The Lord has heard our cries and has answered our prayers. We’re grateful to him and we’re grateful, too, to Juanita and Mrs. Barendregt for searching and for all the others here who prayed and looked for it for us.