I lost it.

my ring.  the ring my beloved gave me when he proposed. when he asked me to be his forever.  together, as one.  not my actual engagement ring, but a sort of placeholder ring for the one to come later…

yes, that ring.

I lost that special symbol that my beloved had given me on a day when the phone kept ringing and it seemed like everyone kept asking did he ask yet and there was a hush and he asked and I was breathless.

we had looked everywhere.

lathering up the children with creams to avoid burning in the sun, swimming in the sea, playing in the sand, dancing with my little ones, carrying the babe to and fro and hauling sand toys and towels and all of these are reasons for an ever increasingly loose ring to slip off…  and become lost somewhere at the beach.

I laugh: yes, at the beach… in the sand.  in the sea.  somewhere at the beach…

My heart sank when I realised I had indeed lost that ring and all the more when we searched and searched and came up with nothing.  And I knew in my heart I needed to just let go; after all, it was just a ring.

And we prayed.  The children, their pudgy little hands clasped together, earnestly praying along with their Mama and Baba to a God they know can do all things…  “He can find that ring, Mama; of course,  He can.”

If you want us to find that ring, Father God, you will let us find that ring.  We know this.

And in a world where wars are being fought and friends are suffering from sickness and there are people who live just down the street under a bridge, in the cold, a lost ring should not matter much.  It seemed silly to linger on about it.

And I didn’t.

And we came home.  Saying a tearful goodbye to a sea we all fell in love with, we came home.

Until one day.

Long after the sand toys and the beach towels and the swimsuits and the smell of the sea had been put away.

I am sorting through a basket of shoes that have gotten too small for my Little Ones, and I see it.

I gasp and my Little Ones come running.  “Mama?  What happened?  Why did you make that sound?”

“Oh, my loves,” I gush…  “Look!  Look!”

I am holding out my hand and tears are streaming down my face and my Little Ones are staring wide-eyed at the shimmering shining symbol of forever love in the palm of my hand…

“Oh, Mama!”

They are laughing with me, twirling about at the wonder of it all…dancing and praising and wiping away my tears of joy and asking with me  “but how, Mama?!   How?!”

And I don’t know how.  I don’t understand how.  Sand. Sea. And a basket of shoes?  But we had searched everywhere…

I watch my Little Ones intently… they are beaming.  Absolutely beaming.  Their eyes sparkling.  They are hugging me and gazing at the ring cheerfully.  This makes total sense in their hearts and minds.

They know Father-God can do anything.

“Father-God gave feet to your ring, Mama.  He gave feet to your ring and brought it home from the sea.”  My Little Lady exclaims.

Yes.  Oh, indeed, yes.

Father-God gave feet to this ring and somehow, in ways I do not understand, brought this ring home, on this day, at this time.

Found.