A Faith-Building Experience to Remember

It's good to make a permanent record of things where you really see the Lord working, so that you can remember them during times when it seems like He is far away.  We had one of those situations this week, a I wanted to write it up here so that we can look back and remember it!

After Rivendell on Tuesday, we all went out to eat at Moe's, since Tuesday is "kids night" there.  Kids eat free with each paying adult.  Caleb doesn't like Moe's, so he stayed home and ate leftovers, which left 5 of us to get adult entrees, and 5 free kids.  It's a good deal for us, lol.

When we left, we were a bit harried because I realized Bob and I were going to be late to our church small group.  Also, we were each carrying several small plastic cups full of ice because our ice maker at home is just not working well anymore.  It's only making about 3 trays of ice a day, but I *LOVE* ice in well, everything, but especially my water, so that is just not cutting it.  I had forgotten to buy a supplementary bag of ice at the local grocery store the day before, so I figured if we filled up all our water cups with ice, we would be good for another day or so, until I could buy another bag of ice.  I was already looking forward to filling up my water bottle at home and having ice water the whole evening!  Woo-hoo!

Anyway, we made it home where we dropped off the kids and switched to a minivan, and I ran inside to fill up the water bottle and grab my Bible.  I was just getting the water bottle when Bob came in asking me if I had his wallet.  Ummmm . . . . nooooooo . . . . Well, he didn't either, and our hearts just sank.  Somehow he must have left it at Moe's.  My wallet had been stolen at the zoo 8 years ago, and I still vividly remember the hassle of getting my driver's license, military ID, credit cards, etc. replaced, and my identity was stolen, so that was a whole different hassle.  We did not want to deal with that!

As we drove off, Bob called Moe's, and a guy started looking for the wallet.  Unfortunately, it wasn't at the counter, or by the salsa or drink machine, or under our table, or anywhere else.  How discouraging!  While Bob was on the phone with Moe's, another call came in on his phone, so when Bob hung up with Moe's, he called the unfamiliar number back.  It was a guy asking if this was "Bob ______".  He had found Bob's wallet!  Huge praise right there!

It turned out that this man was a night security guard for one of the contractors in an office building near Moe's.  He had parked his car and opened his door--and there was Bob's wallet, right there on the ground.  So it fell out of his pocket when he was trying to climb into the big van.

But how did he get Bob's cell number??  Well, he had looked through Bob's wallet (everything was still there, untouched, another huge praise), and he found a small laminated card with a roster of all the employees in Bob's small company.  Bob was the only Bob with our last initial, which he saw on Bob's ID card, so he called the cell number listed there.  Again, another miracle!

So we drove right down to the guy's building, and he came out to meet Bob and return the wallet.  It was just such an amazing series of events.  He found the wallet right as we even realized it was missing!  And to have the first person to pull into that space after us be an honest security guard was just amazing.  We were so thankful for the Lord's care in such details!

It was really a faith-strengthening experience for us.  Our pastor has been preaching through Isaiah, and the past 2 sermons have been especially powerful, with a big picture "Who do you trust" theme.  This little situation was just a reminder to Bob and me that the Lord is powerful and sovereignly in control of all things.

So we were REALLY late to small group, and I was still a little bit shaky, but we definitely didn't want to miss out on sharing all this with our friends!