Lost

It's just a phone. But when I lost it, I felt a little lost myself. I was walking through the park with my daughters, enjoying the warm, summer-like weather. I had finished work for the day and had promised them we would explore one of the many "secret places" we loved to frequent in the 200-acre park near our home.

My phone was in my pants pocket, and throughout our walk I reached into the pocket periodically, just to make sure it was still there. At one point I pulled it out to take a picture of the girls hopping on some rocks at the edge of the river that runs through the park. Then I changed my mind and put the phone back in my pocket, deciding instead to photograph the happy scene with my mind for a change. We left that spot and continued on our way, across a bridge, over a small hill, and across a huge expanse of grass towards the paved path that would lead us towards home. A number of people were out and about, some with masks on, some without - all keeping their distance. Running, jogging, barbecuing, enjoying a few moments of fresh air and sunshine before returning home for the evening. About halfway home my 8-year-old said playfully, "Mom, let's race!" I said, "Sure!" and we took off running towards our imaginary finish line a few metres ahead. I don't remember who won, but I do remember reaching my hand into my pocket to make sure my phone was still there. It wasn't.

No big deal, I thought, it probably fell out while we were racing. So we turned around and searched the freshly-cut grass that we had just sprinted across... no phone. Strange - could it have fallen out along the paved path, or perhaps in the grass near the bridge? The girls had been looking forward to returning home for dinner, but they were keen to help me find the phone so we turned around, fanned out (a wise recommendation from my 5-year-old), and retraced our steps to where I last held the phone in my hand - by the river's edge, near the rocks they had been hopping across about 15 minutes earlier. No phone.

At this point, I started to get concerned. I couldn't imagine that anyone could have found the phone and taken off with it in such a short period of time? By now, the sun was starting to set and the air was getting chilly. We turned around and I took the girls home. I called my mom, who lives nearby, and she came over to feed the girls and our son dinner while I headed back to the park to take one more look before nightfall.

I called my husband, who was on his way home from work, and he met me there. He used the "Find My Phone" feature to find the last known location of my iPhone - a huge area of grass dotted with trees and a picnic bench or two. We searched until it was dark, using the flashlight on his phone to find our way around. Nothing. My husband was confident that the phone was out there somewhere, and promised to return the next morning to find it. When we got home I logged into my iCloud account online and turned on the "Lost Phone" feature, which placed a message on the screen of my phone indicating that it was lost. The message also included my work cellphone number so I could be reached if it was found. I prayed about it and went to bed. "It's just a phone," I told myself. All my photos and personal information were backed up, but I still wanted it back - safe and sound, and not in the hands of a thief looking to sell it, or a scammer looking to use my personal information for financial gain at my expense. Early the next morning, true to his word, my husband went back out and methodically searched the grassy, dew-covered area the girls and I had walked across 12 hours earlier. After two hours of searching he came home empty-handed. I couldn't believe it! At worship the night before, we prayed about the phone and I thought that surely, he would find it. After he left for work, I went back to the park and looked again - even asking the groundskeepers if anyone had found it. No such luck.

That evening, after dinner, I went back yet again. It might sound crazy, or desperate, but I was convinced the phone was there somewhere, and if I looked just one more time I'd certainly find it. I didn't. By now, it was Sabbath. Believe it or not, I went back to the park twice more the following week, and even put up "Lost Phone" signs along the path the girls and I had walked.

A few days after I posted the signs I got a phone call that sent my hopes soaring, but they quickly came crashing down. The person on the other end of the line had found a phone that was a different model from mine. A week after that there was another call. This time, the young man on the line thanked me for the new phone he just found. His laughter - and that of his friends in the background - echoed in my ears as he hung up. I didn’t know if he was serious or if it was a prank call, but I was upset.

At this point, I slowly came to the realization that I had done all I possibly could to find my phone. "God," I said, "I leave this phone in Your hands. If I'm to have it back, I know You'll find a way to get it to me. If not, I'm okay with that too." The next day I went back to the park and took down all the signs. It was up to God now. Three weeks after I lost the phone, on a warm, sunny Sabbath afternoon, I was at home making plans to take the kids outside for a nature walk. My work phone rang. It wasn't one of my colleagues and I didn’t recognize the number, so I answered - hardly daring to hope that the caller might say what I so badly wanted to hear. The friendly voice on the line informed me that he had found a phone in the park, saw the message on the screen, and was wondering if it was mine. My daughters were right beside me, eyes wide with anticipation, listening as I confirmed the model and colour, and smiling from ear to ear. My phone had been found!!

They leaped into my arms for a group hug, and we jumped for joy right there in the dining room. They were so thrilled, and I was awestruck that God had protected my phone for three weeks, not only from theft, but from the elements. You see, a few days earlier we had experienced a torrential rainfall, the likes of which we hadn't seen for months. I remember thinking at the time that if my phone was still out there, it couldn't survive that much rain. As I drove to the man's apartment building a couple of hours later to retrieve the phone, I wondered what kind of condition it was in. We met in front of his building - a public space with residents and visitors coming in and out - and I couldn't help but smile widely as he placed my phone in my hands. There was grass and mud plastered on to the case - which was broken near the top - the screen was dim and I could see the moisture behind it, but it worked! My phone actually worked!!

He told me he had gone to the park that morning and was playing with his kids when he spotted it lying in the grass. The same grass that my husband and I had searched thoroughly - multiple times. He said he was sure the groundskeepers had driven the riding lawnmower over it, due to the extent of the damage to the case, but to my amazement, the body of the phone itself was in perfect condition.

It had lain face down in the grass for three weeks, in the heat of the sun, through chilly nights, and during a massive rainstorm... and it still worked! The screen was damaged, and the home button was a little wonky, but I was still able to enter my password, browse through my apps, read my emails, see my photos, and everything! It's just a phone, but God protected and preserved it, and built up the faith of my children who were wide-eyed in wonder at the seeing first-hand what God can do.

That lost phone also taught me a lesson about faith. About handing my problems over to God - no matter how big or how small - and trusting Him to do what's best. Lost phones aren't always found, and life's issues aren't always resolved to our satisfaction, but the God who preserved my phone is the same God who will preserve each one of us as we endure life's challenges and difficulties.

Sometimes we try to solve our problems ourselves; we think about them, worry about them, and even obsess over them. But amazing things can happen when we hand our problems over to God and allow Him the time and space to solve them for us. It's just a phone, but when I found it I felt like I also found a bit of extra faith in the God who cares about the little things. Even lost phones.