It was two hour before sunset. A young woman went out for a run on the open desert, just south of Tucson, Arizona. In one hand, she had her dog’s leash, and in the other, firmly fastened over one finger, were her house keys. An hour later she returned to the mobile home Park where she lived, only to find that she no longer had her keys.

The woman was horrified. Her husband was working late, and she didn’t know when to expect him home. Being a graduate student in Speech Pathology, she had homework to do: term papers to type; tests to study for; clients to prepare for. Besides, it would soon be dark, and she had nowhere to go.

In desperation she went to the neighboring mobile home and knocked on the door. The neighbor had a metal detector, and together the two of them went back out onto the desert, carefully retracing the woman’s steps. They searched for nearly an hour, but it was to no avail. The keys were nowhere to be found. Finally, in desperation, they gave up, and the woman went to the neighboring mobile home to wait until her husband returned from work.

Fortunately, he wasn’t too late that night, and just as the sun was setting in the west, he drove in. Of course, he had a set of house keys, but due to the isolated area that they lived in, both were very concerned that the keys might fall into the wrong hands. The woman was in despair. She was certain the keys were lost for good, but her husband just calmly stated: “Let’s pray about it!”

The woman thought this was crazy, but to please her husband, she sat quietly while he prayed, then he calmly took her by the hand and led her out onto the desert. The two searched for half an hour, to no avail. The woman drug behind in total discouragement when a voice sounded in her head: “You don’t believe I can find the keys for you, do you?” The woman shook her head honestly. “I don’t see how it’s possible, Lord!” She prayed. “Ask and ye shall receive” said the voice in her head. The woman stopped in her tracks and stared up at length into the starry night sky. Then she nodded her head in determination and said, “Yes, Lord, I believe you can find my keys!” Thirty seconds later, her husband reached down into the sand and dug down about an inch, then he pulled up the set of keys.

By Lyn Chaffart