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Heading back to my car after searching for coins with my metal detector in a schoolyard knee-deep in kids, a blonde girl, no more than eight years old, came up to me and asked if I would look for her lost ring in their backyard. I told her it was time for me to go home, but as we reached my car, she earnestly said, "It has four diamonds (chips) in it," then added, "My grandma gave it to me when I was a small girl." I weakened (how could I not?) and offered to spend a few minutes looking. "Oh, thank you mister!" she said, "I know right where it is!"

We went through her back gate. I asked if her parents were home and she said her dad was, so I sent her inside to let him know what I was doing in his back yard with his daughter (can't be too careful!).

She laid a Hula Hoop on the ground and said the ring would be in that area. All I found was trash. Then she said she had been by a nearby tree and had walked a circular path to the gate during which she had taken off her ring to put in her pocket but it had fallen in the snow.

I told her I would look as far as the gate and then I had to go home. Then, in almost the spot where the hoop was lying, I found the ring about two inches below the surface. I handed it to her and, with tears in her eyes, she hugged me and in a jubilant voice loudly exclaimed, "God bless you mister!" You can't get more satisfaction than that from finding a lost item. As I began to leave, she ran into the house and returned with a dollar bill as a reward for finding the ring. I told her it was the Lord who showed us where to look and to put the money in the church collection plate as an offering of gratitude.

I doubt she will ever forget finding her ring. I'm sure I won't.

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