A friend of mine recently lost her wallet. She was pretty distraught over it and seemed to give up all hope over ever finding it again. Her cash, ID, credit cards, and insurance cards were all in it. I was about to loan her some cash when I paused, then asked her if she remembered all the places she was at before she lost it. She contacted the supermarket that she visited and sure enough, they had it. My friend can thank me due to a strong sense of faith that has developed throughout my life in ways that I wouldn’t have imagined.

It all started back when I was a teenager. During the summer of ’84 when I was just 17-years-old, I spent time at Manhattan Beach on a daily basis. One day, I left the beach and arrived back home two miles away. Checking my wrist, I realized that I had left my digital wristwatch at the beach. This watch was expensive and had an actual calculator on it which was the big technology at the time. I had taken it off when I went for a swim and forgot to put it back on my wrist when I left. Instead of giving up all hope that someone had found it and kept it for themselves, a strong dose of faith shot through my veins and told me to go look for it since there was a remote chance that the watch could still be sitting on the beach. I jumped on my bike and about 15-20 minutes later, I ran to the original location on the sand where my blanket was. Sitting there unnoticed by all the beachgoers was my watch!

In 1994, I got married. This time I was wearing a wedding ring. I was working a temp job at the New York Stock Exchange. One day before I left work to visit my friend in Uptown Manhattan, I removed my ring and placed it on the counter of the men’s bathroom to wash my hands after using the toilet. I rushed out and took the subway. As I sat in the subway car, I felt my hand and realized that my wedding ring was no longer on my finger. Again, the faith I had when I found my wristwatch 10 years earlier was still alive and well. I got off the train at the next station, ran to the other side, jumped on the downtown train, then arrived back at the New York Stock Exchange. Since I was only a temp worker, I had no company ID with me. The security guard gave me a hassle when I asked him to let me in. Instinctively, I held up my ring finger and showed him a ringless finger and shouted to him, “I left my wedding ring upstairs in the bathroom. My wife will divorce me if I lose it!”. Understanding my plight, the guard let me back in. Arriving at the same bathroom, that ring was still sitting there patiently waiting for me. You could thank my unfaltering faith for that!

During the Summer of 2019, I took the NYC Ferry to Lower Manhattan with some of my running friends. We got off and ran Uptown towards Central Park. I took the Ferry back on the Upper West Side back down to Lower Manhattan. Eventually, I made it back home hours later. While home, I realized that my Garmin 220 runner’s watch was not on my wrist. I remember taking it off at the Ferry and then I got distracted. Costing me over $200, I was not ready to declare this watch lost. Faith again made me brainstorm for where it could possibly be. In my mind, it could have been anywhere in New York City. I mentally backtracked the entire 10-mile route wondering where I could have dropped it. The only entity that could help me was the NYC Ferry Service since I did use the Ferry that day. I went to their website and clicked on the “Lost & Found” link. I filled out the online form, then patiently waited for a response. I knew my chances were extremely slim that they would have the watch. Hey, this is Manhattan after all where everyone looks out for themselves! A few hours later, I got a response stating that a tourist found my watch and gave it to a NYC Ferry worker. My faith came to the rescue yet again!

After 36 years of losing valuable things, then finding them again, my faith is now stronger than ever. Besides the events mentioned in this writing, there have been many other times throughout my life where faith has brought me to great achievements while getting me through difficult times. These experiences have brought me to one conclusion; that there IS a God. I have become more faithful not just in finding things, but in finding myself through a Higher Power. And it all started with a lost wristwatch.