Franklin, Wisconsin resident, Dallas Schurg, was clearing trees and brush along his backyard fence line when he suddenly realized his wedding ring was missing. He had clipped the ring to a carabiner on his belt loop for safety while cutting and moving the brush. He had heard horror stories of rings catching and causing serious injury. And so, he was being cautious.
But his efforts to stay safe himself somehow failed to keep his ring safe. Now it was missing, presumably lost amongst the huge pile of brush alongside his fence line. Or was it lost in the house somewhere? Dallas wasn’t entirely sure.
I received a text message from Dallas explaining his situation saying, “I have a very good idea of where it ‘should’ be as a starting point.” The “should” be, left room for the unknown. This is typical of many ring searches. But one has to start somewhere and after speaking with Dallas, I felt his presumption was a reasonable one.
Arriving on location, Dallas led me to the back of his house where a huge pile of brush bore testimony to his long hours spent cutting and dragging the baseball-bat-sized diameter trees away from his property line. We agreed to search the areas around the piles of brush and eliminate those locations first of all. If the ring was underneath the brush, it would have to wait until Spring.
The fence line bore evidence of decades of discarded metallic debris. Old gardening and farming implements, cans, bottles, wire, foil and nails seemed to join forces to hide Dallas’s ring. Such large targets can mask the presence of smaller non-ferrous targets. But 20 minutes into the search, the lost ring appeared beneath a clump of leaves and sawdust! It was pressed deeply into the mud, barely visible.
Dallas shared how he and wife had been praying about the ring, asking God for wisdom and for grace to accept the outcome. I too am a man of faith. I work as a Hospice Chaplain, journeying with people at end of life. I love God, the Creator-Owner of the universe, the One who sent His son to die in our place. I don’t pretend to understand just how God works behind the scenes in life but I truly believe He cares about the things we care about and He delights in answering prayers. He is keenly interested, even in a lost ring!
Thanks, Dallas, for the opportunity to search for and find your wedding ring. Your smile, and that of your wife, speak volumes. Praise God!
Thankful! Paul came on short notice. He was actually traveling home from another successful jewelry find for another one of his clients.
If you’re hesitant to reach out to Paul in the Milwaukee area, don’t be! He is friendly and diligent to provide peace of mind that you did all you could to locate your prized possession. In my instance, he found my ring!
Again, thankful for Paul and his testimony. It was certainly a Divine Appointment.