Miracle Ring

My wedding ring is my nicest, most expensive piece of jewelry. My husband is very frugal so it was especially meaningful that he would make that kind of investment on something as “frivolous” as jewelry. We never, ever looked at rings and he selected it on his own. When he whipped out that little box I wasn’t sure what to expect…

It was the first diamond ring I ever owned and I was determined to take good care of it…so I read the little manual and followed the instructions. Part of those instructions were to remove the ring before washing your hands – soap dulls the diamond. So I did, fanatically. Every time I washed my hands I would stick the ring in my mouth and slip it back on. Let’s not talk about how unsanitary that was…I would rather not think about it. I was taking care of my ring and that’s all I cared about.

We had been married probably about a month when I looked down one afternoon and noticed my ring was gone. Gone. Immediately, I was filled with panic. What had happened? Then a rush of anxiety – I had gone to the bathroom that morning. Five hours ago. Could I have put it down? I ran to the bathroom. It wasn’t anywhere in site. I searched my whole office and checked everywhere on campus. It wasn’t anywhere. It was gone. Just gone.

I made a report with campus police. The officer was nice but gently told me that if it hadn’t been turned it by now, I would most likely never see my ring again.

I was devastated.

I left work to tell my husband. I had to look him in the eyes when I broke the news and I was too distraught to wait until that evening. On my way to my car I called my Mom and both sisters, asked them to form a prayer chain asking that whoever had my ring it would be laid on their heart to do the right thing and turn it in. At that point, prayer was all I had.

I made it to my husband’s office and I burst through the door sobbing. He was on the phone with a client but that didn’t stop me from nearly collapsing into his arms. All I could think about is how he had told me to take care of it and had actually said that if anything ever happened, I would be out of luck and wouldn’t get another one. I had been incredulous at the suggestion – I wasn’t a child, I wasn’t going to lose it. And then, to have to tell him otherwise, to have to admit my irresponsibility and see his disappointment…it was almost too much to bear. And definitely worse than actually losing the ring.

But I had made such a dramatic entrance that when I finally spit it out he was actually relieved. He told me that it was just a ring, it didn’t mean anything and didn’t matter that I had lost it. There was no disappointment or admonishment – just love and comfort. Which only made me feel worse.

I went through the phone book calling pawnshops – no one had the ring. And then, right when I should have been giving up I had the most comforting sense of reassurance that I would get my ring back. It was the strangest thing – I just knew. Logically, it made no sense. My husband was pretty unconvinced but I had peace in my heart and was confident.

When my supervisor asked the next day I told her that I hadn’t found the ring but that I was sure I was going to get it back. She looked at me very sympathetically. I’m sure she thought I was in denial. And I probably would have too – it sounds crazy unless it’s happening to you, how can you explain it? Telling someone you just have a “feeling” doesn’t do it justice – it really wasn’t a feeling. I just had absolute comfort and knowledge. Almost like someone had said to me, with supreme authority, “You will get your ring back.” Only I didn’t hear a voice. Really, I didn’t! I’m not crazy. I promise.

Around noon I was on the phone when my supervisor burst through my door, she could hardly contain her excitement as she said “We found your ring!”

We had a work study student that had been a previous student of my supervisors. In recovery, she hadn’t been working in our office long and her unreliable and sporadic behavior had actually made me wonder if she was using again. I had seen her in the office very briefly the morning before but she was gone by the time I had discovered my ring was missing.

She had called my supervisor, told her she found a ring on the bathroom counter the morning before, had put it in her pocket and “forgot” about it until right then. Where should she turn it in?

When my supervisor asked, the ring she described was mine. The student had no idea the ring belonged to me.

There is no doubt in my mind that the discovery was not forgotten. It seems logical that the very first thing you would do is come back from the restroom and start asking about lost and found. If you plan to turn it in. If not, you quietly slip it in your pocket, don’t say anything, and go about your day. And that is exactly what I think the original intentions were.

But God heard my prayers and the prayers of those that were said on my behalf. He laid it on her heart to do the right thing. And His command was too strong to ignore.

I picked up the ring and gave her some reward money and as I was leaving she said almost wistfully, “I was thinking, man, someone could really make some money off that at a pawn shop.”

Most of us live our lives without ever seeing a miracle. Or what we think a miracle should look like. Because to be a miracle, it has to be grand and ostentatious, right? Isn’t that what miracles are about?

And when we do encounter something that might qualify as a miracle, we find a reason or an explanation for what has happened so it’s dismissed and we fail to recognize it as anything divine.

But miracles occur every day – in the simplest of forms. I believe that’s the way God speaks to us – we have to listen, really listen, in order to hear Him. It isn’t neon lights and flashy signs…it’s much too delicate to advertise in that way.

So that was my first miracle. It may seem trite to liken the recovery of a wedding ring to a miracle but getting the ring back wasn’t the miracle. It was the opportunity to actually feel God at work. I’m sure the situation can be rationalized and explained away. And that there are those that feel like I’m just some fanatic trying to make more of this than there was…but I know what it was, and I’m not discounting it.