The Mercado Family



Sunday, January 14, 2018

Once There Was a Snowman

Austin and I made a snowman last Monday. He taught me the proper way to roll and pack the snow. Being from California, I never have been very good at making snowmen because I never did it as a kid. Later that evening, while I was preparing dinner, one of my worst fears came to pass. I noticed that the diamond from my almost 19-year-old wedding ring, was missing.

Since I got it, 19 years ago, I have always been careful to check my ring and diamond and make sure everything looked secure and shiny. If it started to look dirty, I would clean it. I never did notice the prongs being loose, but if I ever knocked it on something, I took care to examine it. I never actually took it to a jeweler to have services done to it except for a few cleanings a long time ago, so I was quite surprised, discouraged, and very upset to find it missing.

I was hungry and knew that if I tried to look for it on an empty stomach, I wouldn't be very productive, especially since I didn't even know where I lost it! As I started eating, though, I didn't have much of an appetite anymore. It didn't help that we were eating leftover tacos. The night I made the tacos, a few days previous, I had chipped my fake tooth, which is right next to my front teeth. I was pretty upset about that when it happened, even though it's not very noticeable and I have had that tooth about 25 years. To top if off, Erik had sprained his thumb the morning of the same day I chipped my tooth. My mom was here for all these small tragedies and was very supportive, as was Jason, but I still felt like my new year was already falling apart.
Erik fell off the scooter in the church gym at playgroup. He wasn't even moving at the moment! 

They couldn't tell if it was broken in the x-ray at first, but we did get the confirmation that it wasn't.

The good thing about the bandage is that we would take it off after school to ice, but each day we did, it seemed to look worse!


After getting through my meal, I decided to look in my gloves, thinking maybe my diamond came off as I was putting them on and off while making the snowman and putting the facial features on it. No luck. I looked around the car, everyone else made rounds in the house, and I went outside with my flashlight to look around the snowman. Nothing.

The next morning I called the Summit. My mom and I had gone swimming in the afternoon on Monday. I knew it was a slim chance, but wanted to know if anyone had seen it in the bottom of the pool, or wherever, and actually turned it in. I also kept my eyes peeled at Red Bell on Tuesday.

When Jason returned from work Tuesday evening (my mom was at the airport by then) he asked if I had found it. When I shook my head dejectedly, he responded that I should call our insurance company (luckily we had insurance on the diamond specifically). 

On Wednesday, I asked my boss if any kid or the cleaners had found a nice shiny diamond lying around. Nope.  All the while, we all prayed that we could find the diamond. My kids were empathic and sweet. I found that by Wednesday I mostly prayed for their sake, so they wouldn't think I had given up. I can't say that I had actually given up, but that I didn't know what else to do. I prayed to Heavenly Father that I knew He would allow us to find it, if it be His will, but also that I knew it was a hard thing to find. He did answer me, because all the while I felt something tell me that it wasn't far. The problem I had was, how long was it going to take to find this diamond that was so close, yet so far away?

Thursday we had some wacky weather. All few inches of snow we had on the ground, melted with the 50 degree weather and rain that we had that day. By the time I got home from Red Bell at 1:00, there was no snow at all, except for snow that had been compacted.

As I drove into the cul-de-sac that day, I noticed that our white gate was open, which is unusual. I walked over to check it out and close it. As I walked back across the yard, I felt like I should skim the area where the snowman had been. The bottom of it was a small ball and in front of it was a small pile that had been the middle and top. I leaned forward to see if it happened to be there and as I looked, I saw a shiny piece of ice that looked slightly pear-shaped. My heart started to pound as I reached froward to examine it, thinking it couldn't be it; it looked so much smaller than it did set in the ring. When I picked it up, there was no mistaking it! I had found my diamond in the melted snowman!
Snow pile where I found my diamond.

Thank goodness for a pear shaped diamond- it's different!

One of the amazing things about this miracle is that it had to happen at that moment, when the snow was melted and my kids weren't home. The very next day, we got a fresh layer of snow that would have made it difficult to see that diamond and at the end of winter, it might have been ground into the grass.

I know Heavenly Father heard our prayers and comforted me during those few days. He gave our family a wonderful miracle!


2 comments:

  1. I am so glad I found this post and was again reminded of this miracle! You have strengthened my testimony in the power of faith and of prayer and of not giving up and last of all hard work. We all looked hard that first night. We had faith that first night but as time went on..well, you remained stead fast and strong. Well done, thou good and faithful daughter

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  2. Wow!!! That is such an amazing story!!! I lost the diamond out of my ring years ago. I don't think I ever prayed to find it - dummy me. To this day, I just ear an el-cheapo fake from Walmart. Some day, we'll replace it with something pretty. But you're experience is the best!!!

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