Wait - where is it ?

Here is the deal ... I always ask God to speak to me in a way that I can understand ... and He is faithful to do it ... sometimes it is uncomfortable for me but I always KNOW what He is saying ... with that said ...

I wake up this morning ... get a shower ... get ready for work ... ( let me pause for a second to tell you how I can't stand to be without my wedding ring --- when I don't have it I am "lost" ) I put my on my cheap watch and my ring ... but as with most mornings it is just too tight so I do what I always do ... I put it on my pinky finger ( yes it is REALLY loose ) until I can get going and eventually ( around 8:15 or so ) the ring will go on my ring finger ... ok

Head to work ... get to work ... check mail .. talk to a buddy on the phone ... etc and so on ... around 8:45 I head out to an awards assembly at HCS ... arrive on time ... well actually they are behind schedule so I am waaaaaaay early ... sit and talk to a buddy for a minute ... find Steph and sit with her ... get up to get some water because I have a little while until Madi and Kenzi will be up ... AND I am trying to quit DP and Diet DP ( pray for me --- I am hooked ) ... get my water and reach for my ring and IT AIN'T THERE ...

I cannot tell you how that feels ... GONE ... no where to be found ... fear ... panic ... disbelief ... and much much more

I know you are like ... "It's just a ring ... buy another one ... it was probably cheap anyway because you were poor when you got married and spent all the money on Steph's ring ... !! "

But that is just not how I feel about it ... I worried for the rest of the time at the awards deal ... I am just sick ...

Madi and Kenzi get their awards ... I leave ... driving toward work ... the entire time wondering where my ring has fallen off my pinky finger ... I remember having it when I arrived at work ... is it in the parking lot ? In the breakroom ? It could be anywhere !!!

I was in front of Gipson's Funeral home when I said it ... " God, why is this happening ? You know I love that ring ... why did I even put in on my pinky finger anyway ? I know that is not where it belongs ... it doesn't fit ... "

And right there in front of Okay Food Store at the intersection of Denman and Chestnut ( remember I am driving ) ... it came ... like a knife it cut right through me ... all the way to my core ...

"Don Wayne ... 2 things ... I am depending on you to be there when I reach down for you ... just like you reach for that ring ... I reach for you ... I need you to be where you are supposed to be ... where you belong ... as a matter of fact look at your ring finger .. you can see the indention and the pale ring around that finger ... that is where your ring ( YOU - DW ) is SUPPOSED to be ... that indention is MADE for your ring no other ring will fit that indention .. only yours ... and secondly ... the reason you lost your ring is that it was NOT where it belonged ... you put it in a place that it was never meant to be ... you willingly and knowingly put your ring in danger of being lost ... there are people that live their entire life "on the wrong finger" ... I know it would have been tight and uncomfortable on the "right" finger ... but that is where it belongs ... IT WOULD BE SAFE THERE ... "

I am like oh my gosh ... losing my ring was worth what God said ... I am still sad and upset ... but God spoke to me in a way that I TOTALLY understand ...

DWC

( by the way --- my ring was on desk when I got back to work --- AIN'T GOD GOOD ? )