Lost Miniature Boy

While I was in Las Vegas, my mother-in-law surprised me with a beautiful necklace.  In one circle it had my birth stone and 2 miniature girls; and in the other circle there were 4 miniature boys with Abe's birth stone in it representing our entire family. I opened the box; and for the first time in my life, I cried over jewelry.  I loved it so much.  I told her I would be wearing it every day.

I wear jewelry, but I am generally not that much into it.

I actually sold one of my rings from Abe a few years ago for some extra money because we were struggling financially.  He couldn't believe I had done that, and my sweet husband bought it back from Kohls for me the same day informing me that we were not that hard up for money.  My point is, I'm not usually too attached to my jewelry... until this gift from my mother-in-law.

The following week, while in Missouri, I was making a bunk bed, and I flung the necklace up against the upper bunk.  It cracked the glass on my necklace, but it didn't break all the way through.  I was sick inside that I had damaged it already.  I refused to take it off though because it was still intact... just not as pretty.

Later that day, I traveled to Branson, MO to visit one of my very best friends from high school.  We walked alongside the river on a fairly busy sidewalk chatting away when I noticed that the glass on my locket had broken all the way through and one of the miniature boys was missing!  I felt so sad about it, but I didn't want to waste our special time together looking for a teeny piece of jewelry that could be ANYWHERE!

I swallowed hard and decided  I would have to let it go.   My time with her was MUCH more important.

About a half hour later, we said our goodbyes, and she and her husband escorted the kids and I to our van.  I started to drive away feeling sad about leaving the little miniature boy, and the thought came to me, "You believe in miracles... go look for it!!"

I parked the car, said a very faith-filled prayer asking for help in finding it, and told the kids I would be back in a few minutes.  (Jackson was old enough to take charge in the van, and he had a cell phone to call me if needed.)

Not wanting to leave the kids longer than a few minutes, I quickly scanned the sidewalk looking silly with my head drooped down staring intently at the ground.  Every once in a while I looked up to greet people, but that probably made my behavior seem even more absurd to those passing by.  I walked for several minutes with no luck and reluctantly decided to turn around.

A couple asked me what I was doing.  I told them of my search, and they said they would keep an eye out as well.

Kind of embarrassed that I was even looking for such a tiny thing in such a big place, I told them it would be close to impossible to find it.  I continued to pray in my heart telling God that I believed that HE could help me find it.  Less than a minute later, I screamed with excitement!

There it was!  The miniature boy had a gem on him, but the gem faced down to the ground.  As I looked at the teeny, teeny boy laying on the ground, I knew there was NO WAY that my eyes found that on their own.  I was DEFINITELY guided to look at that exact spot at that exact moment.

This is how it looked.  Can you see it?

I turned back to the couple and yelled, "I found it!"  The man responded, "It's your lucky day, you should go play the slots!"  With a big smile on my face, I shouted back, "I said a PRAYER!"

I sprinted back to the van with such a grateful heart.  The kids squealed excitedly with me and burst out, "It's a miracle!!

God surely does love us so much.  

There is more to this miracle... 

Just 2 days later, I was driving back to Michigan with our 6 kids, 2 nephews, and no husband when my wallet was stolen.  The details of that are for another day; but when I began to stress about the logistics of the rest of our trip- of even getting home- I felt that everything would be alright.  

If God's Hand was in the finding of a piece of jewelry, HIS hand was certainly in the logistics of managing the rest of a trip with 8 kids and no money or identification.

Sometimes our faith is pushed to the limit; but if we look deep enough, God is showing HIS presence throughout... I believe God gave me the miracle of the lost miniature boy to show me HE loves me, but I also believe that experience helped me to recognize HIS presence when my test of faith intensified with a stolen wallet.