It was a beautiful, warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, so we went for a walk in the woods with my son Josh and his little family.

About halfway through, I noticed that one of my hearing aids was missing. Instantly I realized what had happened: I’d been carrying my smallest grandson on my shoulders, and when I lifted him off, the hearing aid was dislodged. It had fallen off at that point, or somewhat later.

My first reaction was natural, “Oh no!” for this was an expensive item. But the Holy Spirit immediately prompted me to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving: “Thank you, Lord, for allowing this. I pray that you’ll help me to find it, as you know where it is. And if I don't find it, I'll praise you anyway." I then retraced the several hundred yards we’d covered, looking carefully among the leaves for the missing item, but to no avail.

As I was searching, the Spirit reminded me of how our car had been stolen shortly before we moved to Germany in 2009. I had looked for that, too, but again, to no avail. We’d hoped to sell it and buy a car in Germany, but, as you may remember, the Lord had something much greater in mind for us.

He not only supplied a car for free through our new friends, Dr. Chris and Melanie, but they also paid for the insurance, taxes, repairs and all our fuel for the whole 3.5 years we were there!

But much more importantly, the Lord gave opportunity to share the gospel with Dr. Chris, answering all his questions, so that near the end of our time there, he came to Christ. That was certainly worth losing my 15-year-old rusty car for!

So, what does God have in store through this loss of my hearing aid?? I don't know yet, but we shall see!

To be continued tomorrow