Innocent Faith Rewarded

My daughter-in-law lost her wedding ring at the beach. Our party of ten scoured the sand for an hour. Then I got out my sand trowel, and continued raking around their chairs. I was so hopeful I would be the one to find it. I love Karissa and Matt and would have been so overjoyed to see the look on their faces as I handed them the ring. Alas, I did not find it. Karissa's dad, a pastor, watched me raking the sand and said, "What a faithful woman! And Biblical! You know the woman kept looking for the lost coin until she found it." I had been about ready to quit...but how could I quit after that? I kept scouring, but the heat finally did me in. It was no use. The lost ring stayed lost.

Then, yesterday morning, I went on my usual dolphin hunt in my kayak on Broad Creek. I kayaked for two solid hours, scanning the water. Not one dolphin! I always find dolphins, usually several on my low-tide kayak trips on the sound. Alas, this was turning into another episode of "The Lost Ring." I knew I could not be out in the brutal sun any longer, so was almost back to the dock, when I heard a child shout. I looked over at a motorboat near me, screeching to a halt. The little girl on the boat yelled, "Daddy, a dolphin! Right in front of the boat!"

Amateur, I thought, Yelling will scare the dolphin away. I snickered. Silly child.

The girl leaned over the railing of the boat and reached down into the water.
"Come here, Dolphin!" she called.
I could not believe my eyes. I saw a dolphin face surface right under her hand. He looked at her, stock still. I had never seen a wild dolphin face that nearby! Then, remarkably, the little girl reached down and petted his nose. He let her pet him for a moment, and then dipped under the water again. The motor boat chugged back to life, and rumbled away.

I bobbed in its wake...thinking...humbled.
"Dolphin!" I shouted, "I am here! Come let me pet you!" The water rocked me, the sun blazed down in golden sprinkles on the sea, but no dolphin appeared.

That morning, I had read a Facebook post by a fellow sidewalk counselor. She had been counseling an abortion-minded mom on the pro-life RV outside the abortion mill. Having talked the mom into viewing her baby on the ultrasound, she had left her ten-year old, Eliana, on the sidewalk with another counselor. After a few minutes, she ran out to check on her little girl. To her shock and delight, little Eliana had stopped a car all on her own from going in the abortion mill. She convinced the mother to look at her baby on the ultrasound. That mother, it turned out, was carrying twins. She was so impressed by the conviction of little Eliana not to kill her babies, that she asked Eliana to come on the RV and view them on the ultrasound as well. She thanked the child for her faith and wisdom and sincere love. The humble trust and spirit-led words of ten-year old Eliana led the mother to chose life for her two precious babies.

Saving the lost. Shouting with love to the depths of the sea and to tormented souls from sidewalks at the gates of Hell. The voice of innocent faith rewarded.

Later,  I was determined I would bike back by the spot on the beach where Karissa had lost the ring and see if anything sparkled in the sand. If I could find a child willing to look with me, I would humbly kneel beside her in the sand.

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Luke 18:17 

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Matthew 18:3 

And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:14

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Mark 10:13-16 

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.