Praying for a bracelet

You know how when you get something, all of a sudden, you see it everywhere? Whenever we get a new (to us, anyway) vehicle, my eyes are opened up to seeing that same make and model everywhere I go.

I lost a lovely silver bracelet a few months ago. It had a magnet closure, which is one of the main reasons why I lost it. The other main reason was that I was driving through a blizzard at night and the wipers were having a hard time keeping up with all the snow piling up on the windshield.

As I reached out to grab the wiper and pull it up so it can hit the windshield and bang off some of the accumulated snow, my bracelet caught the edge of the window and flew off onto the snow-filled street. I was dismayed because it was the first time I'd worn the bracelet, and I loved it because it had little silver hearts that had "faith", "hope", and "love" printed on them.

I stopped the van on the side of the road and tried to look for it, but the snow was coming down so hard and it was so dark that it was hopeless. Several times over the last few months, I stopped and tried to look on the side of the road, but the snowbanks were piled pretty high, and the odds of seeing the bracelet in all that snow were pretty low.

So yesterday, with the warmer weather and the snow melting all over, I thought I'd have a go at it again. It was a lovely, sunny day, and I had a little time as I drove home from my BSF meeting. The last few times I'd tried to look, I don't remember ever praying for help as I looked. I thought to myself that this was such a little matter; God really didn't need to be bothered by this puny request.

But that day, I realized that it bothered me a little that I couldn't find this bracelet... there was a sense of non-closure. Maybe it's my latent OCD coming out, whatever. So I prayed for help, to the God of the universe, that He'd help me find this bracelet. I prayed that I'd see the flash of silver and somehow find closure in this trifling matter.

Now I know that He doesn't always answer prayers right away. It's not that He doesn't hear or doesn't care, He just has a bigger picture of things, and He knows what's good for us, even when we vehemently disagree with Him. Sometimes He says "yes," sometimes He says "no," and sometimes, to our chagrin and impatience, He says "wait." And sometimes He waits patiently for us to even ask for help or guidance. But He always answers... in His perfect time.

As I walked on the side of the road, looking for a flash of silver, I prayed, sometimes a little desperately, despite my lack of attachment to this bracelet. I mean, I hadn't had it for even a week before I lost it!

Those who don't believe in the power of prayer would say that it doesn't matter... when something happens, it's a cosmic coincidence if it happens the way we want it to, and it just sucks if it doesn't. There's no reason for why things happen, they just do. Some people live their whole lives this way, not even thinking there may be another way, and I'm so glad I don't have that particular world view right now. I used to, and I was a different person then. But that's another story.

Anyway, after about 15 minutes of intense searching, I saw a flash of silver that wasn't a tin can or gum wrapper. It was a heart, mostly white, with just a little patch of silver, unmistakably a piece of my bracelet. The silver must have corroded off most of the heart, and the rest of the bracelet was nowhere to be seen.

I leaned down to pick it up and stared at it with a sense of wonder... and closure. I had asked Him for help in this simple matter, and He did. I saw His love for me in that little piece of bracelet, and felt like the God of the entire universe stooped down to care for me in that moment. The feeling was indescribable.

Just as we suddenly start to see vehicles similar to our own, when we look for God in the little things, He will show Himself to us. My eyes were opened to how God works in the puny things, and I could feel Him there with me, standing on the side of the road. He answered my little request, and it seemed a miracle.

Cynics may say that it was pure luck that I found that heart. But then they will have missed the feelings of love and care that I felt when I found it. I'd rather live with the faith and hope that God is really here, than live without it.

Thanks for spending some time with me on the side of the road, and on my path in life. May you see God in the little things!