By Steve Higginbotham
One of the things that every high school student used to look forward to was getting his or her class ring. I was no exception. I was proud of my ring. It had a light blue stone in it with a gold “OG” (Oak Glen) etched in it, and on the side, it had an engraving of a basketball player.
However, no sooner than I received my ring, I lost it. I had my ring when I left basketball practice one evening, but I didn’t have it when I arrived home. Apparently, it slipped off my finger somewhere between the school and my house. To compound the problem, retracing my steps would be useless because there were several inches of snow on the ground.
My ring was gone. Winter eventually gave way to Spring, and every day, as I walked from the gym to the bus and from my bus stop to my house, I would look down in the grass near the sidewalk to see if I could see my ring. To my surprise, one night after a late basketball practice while I was walking to my car, the light from a streetlight caused a little sparkle on something in the grass. I stopped and thought, “Surely not. Not after all this time.” But I reached down and sure enough, picked up my class ring that was half-buried in the grass and mud. Had I given up and quit looking for my ring, I would have never found it again. But each day, as I walked the same path, I didn’t fail to look along the edge of the sidewalk, hoping against hope, that I would see my ring.
Obviously, this article isn’t about my class ring, but is intended to ask you if there are some things in life that have eluded you? Have you been unable to find a way to break through with the gospel to your spouse, children, or friends? Don’t give up. Don’t stop looking for opportunities. And maybe, through God’s providence and your watchfulness, you might be surprised one day to see a tiny sparkle of opportunity and hope that may be the answer to your prayers.