When I finished my devotions, I noticed something didn’t feel right. I jumped up, found my husband, and blurted out, “I’ve finally become a Borton woman!”

At some point in our twenty-eight plus years of marriage, he mentioned there is a history of Borton women losing their engagement rings. I’d now had the same experience.

I don’t recall taking the ring off. It would rotate a bit on my finger but was not so loose that it ever slipped off.

Until sometime recently.

Proving that I married a wise man, he replied, “I’m so sorry. You know, though I love YOU and not the ring. It’s okay.”

We tried to think through when or where it may have slipped off. Nothing came to mind, though I feel fairly certain it had to be recent. Thus began the journey of contacting places I’d been to in the last week or two. Each time I heard, “I’m sorry, it’s not here,” I knew I’d discovered one more place it wasn’t. Thus narrowing down the field.

I’ve taken boxes of puzzles apart. Dumped my purse. And the recycling bin. Next, I’ll check sink drains and washer/dryer vents. I’ve looked on Marketplace, filed a report with our city police (I am sure it wasn’t stolen, just lost), I posted in our city’s Facebook group for lost and found. Through that, I received some suggestions I hadn’t thought of, like checking pawn shops.

My gut told me I’d find it caught in Jerry’s wheelchair (I’d made some adjustments to his chair this week) or in our trash from times I’d pushed the junk in the bag down to make more room. I donned gloves and picked through every piece of trash in our dumpster bin. Searching for my diamond in the rough.

Before I started, I chose a music channel of acoustic guitar worship to play while I foraged. Soon my mind flooded with the words to the songs.

Give thanks with a grateful heart . . .

All to Jesus I surrender…worldly treasures all forsaken. Take me Jesus, take me now. . . .

Above all wealth and treasures of the earth . . .

Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . . (this was timely. Do you know what food scraps look like after a week in the bin in the Florida heat?)

As my heart and lips hummed or sang along, perspective came too.

I haven’t fretted over the lost ring. I am sad, and that’s okay. I’ve been praying, as have Jerry and some of our friends and family. I hope I continue in the tradition of Borton women who find their rings in obscure places—eventually,.

The same day I was garbage picking, I chatted with two friends, one who unexpectedly and suddenly lost her mother. The other is losing her vision to a cruel, disabling condition. Again, perspective. Losing a ring is losing a thing, not a person or health.

Yes, the ring symbolizes love, memories, family, and commitment. But we still have all of that, even if the ring is never found. And I have a very gracious and understanding husband.

Here’s the best part. A day is coming, in the not too distant future, I am sure, when I’ll leave all my jewelry behind and enjoy the gift that never decays or goes missing; eternity with my Lord and Savior. Before him, I will cast my crown.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)

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