Dollywood, the highlight of our big trip to Tennessee with my daughter and her family. Just as I walked through the entrance gates I patted the pocket of my jeans. My wallet was gone!
“I was sure I put it in there after I took out the tickets,” I told Jewel, my wife. I checked my fanny pack. No dice. Credit cards, driver’s license, military ID—not to mention $300 in cash. All gone!
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll help you find it,” my daughter, Teresa, said.
“I’ll check the ticket counter,” I said. “Probably left it there.”
I retraced my steps, searching the ground. No wallet. It wasn’t at the ticket counter either. Or the Lost and Found. “You can fill out a claim in case it’s turned in,” the woman there said. “But if someone finds it they’ll probably just take the money and throw the rest away.”
I filled out the form anyway. What else could I do?
My special day at Dollywood was going to be ruined. Already my mind was racing, thinking about what to do next. Cancel my credit cards to start, even though I had no cash. What a mess!
My cell phone rang. It was my daughter. “Dad, meet me back where you left us right now.”
I rushed back. Teresa had a big smile on her face…and my wallet in her hand. I checked it. Not a thing was missing. “But how did you find it?” I asked.
“I prayed,” she said. “Just as I finished asking God for help I heard an older couple talking about a wallet they’d found on the ground.
“They’d sent their daughter to take it to the Lost and Found but we were able to catch her before she got there. Thanks to those honest people we got it right back. They were thrilled to return it.”
Teresa had surely reminded me of the value of prayer. Though I was a devoted Christian and I thought I’d done what I should do to find my wallet, I’d forgotten the most important thing of all. Even when I thought I’d lost all my valuables, there was one I was never without: prayer.
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