Sixteen Bags of Leaves

Yesterday was a mild, cool, sunny and dry November day, high time we raked some of our leaves fallen from the dozens of trees on our property. This year they seem to have fallen all at once--most of them, anyway. The kids laughed and squealed as they "helped" gather the leaves into piles and then into paper yard waste bags, making sure to first jump into the piles and scatter them all over the place. After hours of working together, we finally finished just before dark. Jonathan and I counted them: 16--a new record for one day of raking. We felt pretty good about our accomplishment.

After dinner, Maggie and I jumped into the car, excited to go grocery shopping together and have a little fun girl time. I started the car and suddenly realized I was not wearing my wedding ring. I sometimes will forget to put it on if I am home all day and don't put my watch on either, but I'd been out earlier and I did have my watch on. I never wear one without the other. It hit me with a jolt of fear that I'd dropped my ring into one of the bags of leaves. One of the sixteen bags. And it was now completely dark. I ran into the house to double check, but sure enough, it wasn't in the house anywhere. Completely distraught, I told Jonathan what I feared, and he remained calm as he suggested we just go out and look for it tomorrow after church. "And even if we don't find it, it's no big deal," he said, "because I've heard of a jeweler in Virginia who will custom-design rings."

Losing my wedding ring is a big deal. Jonathan designed it himself and had Losee Jewelers in Provo make it for me. It's got a pearl, two emeralds, and a set of wings--the pearl for me (Greek for Margaret), and the emeralds and wings represent certain scriptures on eternal marriage. Also, D&C 132:19-20 is engraved inside the band. It could be duplicated, but.......I was determined not to let that happen--I needed my ring, the one I've had for ten years.

We knelt and prayed, asking the Lord to help us quickly find the ring tomorrow and to know which bag to look in. I felt comforted and tried to hold onto my faith that it would be quickly found. Then we went to the store and finished up the day.

After church, I headed out to the bags of leaves with Jonathan, still hoping and trying to have faith that we'd find it right away. I asked Jonathan to pick a bag. He chose the one closest to us, the last one filled: "Why don't we start with this one?" We dumped out part of it and started sifting through. Nope. "I don't think this is the right one, I said. "We need to be inspired, not just practical here." And I picked a different one, one that I felt might be the right one. We dumped the whole thing out and searched carefully. Wasn't there. I started to get discouraged, wondering if we'd find it after all and wondering about that jeweler in Virginia.

After gathering the leaves back up and filling the bag again, I grabbed Jonathan's bag and dumped the rest of it out. We searched and searched, finding nothing but leaves and acorns, and I said a little silent prayer, "Lord, you know where this ring is. Just show us where to find it." A little mound of leaves remained, and as I reached for them, I pulled out my ring. Then I looked up to the sky and laughed. We knelt in thanks. I had promised the Lord earlier that I'd share my miracle story of finding my ring on my blog--after it was found.

Things I've learned from this experience:

1. Never wear my ring while doing yard work.

2. Trust Jonathan--even if I don't think he's inspired, he probably is.

3. Heavenly Father cares about little things that are important to us.