i am convinced that the Holy Spirit loves to surprise us
and give reminders that He is
exactly who He says He is
last week
on the final day of camp
my eldest
'big'
shamefacedly admitted to me
upon pick-up
that he had lost his upper expander
you know
one of those tiny plastic and metal
thingamajiggers
that the orthodontist overcharges for
lost it
in the lake
i didn't yell
or even scold
much
because this child
had been extremely responsible
with his orthodontia paraphernalia all along
but i was pretty bummed
imagining pricey replacement fees
and stern looks from dr. contes
but then the hubs
had a brilliant idea
since the lake is just 5 minutes away
he decided that the next day
we would traipse back out there
dressed in our skivies
to go look for the lost expander
on saturday morning
we awoke
and before breakfast
the hubs prayed that we would find that missing mouthpiece
that we would be led right to it
then he went out for a run
and prayed some more
a few hours later
we donned our swimsuits
climbed into the van
and headed the the scene of the crime
i should mention here
that the day was overcast and a mere 67 degrees
not ideal water search conditions
at the beach
hubs headed over to speak with the owner
and explain our predicament
so the kids and i shrugged out of our towels
and tiptoed into the murky water
teeth chattering
big showed us the approximate location
he was when the expander popped out
and of course it was neck deep
we began to brush our feet slowly
back and forth
across the silty bottom
after instructing the kids to use their feet to pick anything
that felt sharp edged
i started groping around
picked up one stone
two stones
three stones
the hubs was heading back over to join us
when i shouted to him
and i quote
this is pppointless!
we are nnever gggoing to fffind it!
(shiver) !!!
i think you know where this is going
hesitating
my toes brushed another
rock?
no
something a little less substantial
i carefully clenched my toes together
straining not to drop what ever it was
and managed to bring it up
my fingers pried it out of my cramped feet
and brought to the surface
one
slightly slimy
expander
after shouting
(to my husband's disbelief)
i ffound it!
we all thankfully waded back to shore
and gloated
a little bit
over our amazing discovery
all told
we had searched in the water
for fewer than 5 minutes
in the car
on the way home
we tried to explain to our children
who were suitably impressed by my feat
that the Holy Spirit had answered daddy's prayers
in a very tangible way
that
rather than finding that expander
we were
led to it
there is simply no other explanation
and at the end of that day
i realized
how small my faith can be
for i hadn't bothered to pray that day at all
and it was my voice that spoke defeated words
my doubting heart
that believed our search would be fruitless
but the Lord
in His sweetness and mercy
reminded me of His care and concern
over even the smallest details
irritations
concerns
in the lives of His children
and yes
we sanitized the expander when we got home