So, ya wanna hear a story? It\u2019s a miracle story.
Here goes\u2026
July 28, 2019 was a crazy busy day. Andy and I were at both church services, he because he\u2019s the preacher and they tend to frown when he\u2019s not there and I because it was my turn to serve on the prayer team that weekend. We knew the schedule would be tight as we had to be in Glen Rose, Texas, set up and ready for camp to start by 7:00 that night. Once the last service finished we ran out of the church, jumped in Lisa\u2019s van so she could take Andy, Matt and myself to the airport. We made it to the airport in just enough time to snag a bite to eat before boarding our flight which was shockingly on time.
The one hour flight went too quickly as there was not enough time to get an adequate nap to prepare for the rest of the day. Ready or not, we landed, grabbed our carryons and rushed out into the Texas heat to find our ride to camp.
Angela, her husband and grandson picked us up in an SUV with cranked up AC while we took turns chatting and napping during the 90 minute drive to the campground.
Things went pretty fast once we got to camp. Andy jumped out, grabbed his things and headed to the sound booth getting things ready for the message he would be bringing in a few short moments. Matt grabbed his stuff and went straight to work on the stage getting the music and band ready for worship. I began unpacking the boxes of product and miscellaneous items the boys had brought down the day before. We each had our job to do and wasted no time getting to them.
Finally, the time came for us to gather as a team and pray over the service, campers and the upcoming week of ministry. As we circled up getting ready to hold hands, I looked down and saw that the diamond was missing from my wedding set!
July 28, two days before our 25th wedding anniversary!
Out of sheer shock, I gasped and showed Andy. Instinctively everyone broke apart and started looking around where we were standing. The question that obviously has no answer was asked, \u201cDo you know where it may have fallen out?\u201d
What?
If I knew that I would have gone there before telling anyone it was missing!
I was devastated.
We\u2019ve been in ministry a long time. In that time I\u2019ve learned that the enemy will do whatever he can to steal any joy, kill any hope and destroy any possibility of God working if he can. Keeping this in mind, I said a quick, quiet prayer and insisted we join hands and continue in prayer with our original intent. I voiced this prayer then and repeatedly the whole week, \u201cFather, I know You know where my diamond is. May I please have it back?\u201d
Both before and after the service we swept the floor with precious little hope. A small rhinestone was found, but sadly, that was all the searching yielded.
I continued walking around the campground with my head down in hopes of maybe stumbling upon it all week, but to no avail.
Andy and I had reconciled ourselves to the fact we would need to recycle a stone out of another ring or buy a diamond to replace it. He asked if I just wanted a whole new ring since #25 seemed like a good time to change if I wanted to. I did not. You see, I loved that ring, just like it was. Andy and his mom designed that ring based on what he heard me say that I liked. Bonni had been extremely generous to donate that diamond, the one that Andy\u2019s dad has given her on their wedding day. It was precious to me, all of it. I wanted my ring back, all of it.
So my quiet prayer continued.
Friday came and camp was over. Andy and the boys and I made the seemingly never-ending drive home and life began as normal again with the exception of me wearing a silicone band as a wedding ring until we could figure out what to do.
The silicone band was a far cry from my wedding ring, although it was quite fancy since it glowed in the dark and all. I tried wearing some of the other beautiful rings Andy had given me over the last 25 years as a replacement for my set. They all paled in comparison in my eyes. None of them felt \u201cright.\u201d
Tuesday morning I decided to run by Andy\u2019s office for a minute just to see how his day was going. When I walked in, I was surprised to see one of the bigger boxes we had taken to camp completely dumped out all over his floor. I immediately knew he had been looking for my ring. He confirmed my suspicion, but had come up ended handed except for the gecko that had apparently hitched a ride to Kansas in our box! He got a good fright and a chuckle, but no ring. I tried to reassure him that it would be ok. We were still married and God had it figured out. I really didn\u2019t want him to feel bad over it even though my heart was broken. Once again I reminded him that God knew where it was and if He wanted me to have it we would find it. The words came out of my mouth, but the truth was I wasn\u2019t terribly confident.
We started the task of putting everything back in the box again when I looked down and saw something small with a shine to it right next to Andy\u2019s heel.
IT WAS MY DIAMOND!!!
I instantly checked my earrings to make sure none of them had broken and fallen out. Nope. It was my diamond!
We both burst into laughter and I couldn\u2019t help but cry happy tears! Now, I don\u2019t know what your definition of a miracle is, but as far as I\u2019m concerned, this is a miracle.
After saying, \u201cI can\u2019t believe it!\u201d about 1,000 times we both began to realize we had no reason to doubt. Why wouldn\u2019t we believe it? The God of the universe had been generous in giving us that ring 25 years prior. He knew exactly where it was the whole time and He in His generosity simply gave it back.
See, that\u2019s the God we serve. I\u2019m not saying He is like a genie in a bottle and that you need only to ask and it will appear. I\u2019m saying He loves us as a Father loves His children and when we ask for that which is in His will, He graciously gives.
He didn\u2019t have to give that diamond back. Andy and I would have still been married and in love. God would have still been abundantly gracious, generous, kind, loving and perfect. I don\u2019t pretend to know why He allowed it to be lost or found, but I can tell you this, it has reminded me in a very real way that the God I serve is bigger than anything the enemy may throw at me, and I can trust Him! I look at this ring and my heart beats not just for the handsome fella that put it on my finger 25 years ago but for the One that reassures me daily that I am His and He watches over, protects and loves me completely.
Oh, how I hope you know that kind of love. I hope you read this very true story and know that the same God that loves me, loves you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOr suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won\u2019t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, \u2018Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.\u2019 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God\u2019s angels when even one sinner repents.\u201d
\n\u202d\u202dLuke\u202c \u202d15:8-10\u202c \u202dNLT\u202c\u202c
\nhttps:\/\/www.bible.com\/bible\/116\/luk.15.8-10.nlt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So, ya wanna hear a story? It\u2019s a miracle story. Here goes\u2026 July 28, 2019 was a crazy busy day. Andy and I were at both church services, he because he\u2019s the preacher and they tend to frown when he\u2019s not there and I because it was my turn to serve on the prayer team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[104,107,105,106],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119,"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions\/119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kathyaddis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}