Small Town Life

Yes, this is Thursday evening instead of my usual Sunday afternoon post. Something happened in the past few days that I wanted to write about, so I guess this is my early Christmas bonus blog. In short, I'm thankful I am able to live in small-town Iowa.

Two days ago, Tuesday morning, I was scheduled for my regular haircut. Since my barber is in downtown, I also take the opportunity to run errands while I'm out. I hadn't deposited my paycheck from November yet and planned to visit the bank after getting a trim.

Before leaving home, my caregiver and I prepared the required documents and I signed everything so we could just go in, deposit, and leave. When we got to town, my preferred handicapped parking wasn't available and we had to use alternative parallel parking nearby. It took some work in tight quarters to get me unloaded, but we managed after some bumping and careful driving on my part. Soon, I was sitting in front of a large mirror getting my hair shortened.

At this point, my caregiver noticed my deposit wasn't in her purse where she put it. We concluded it must have fallen out in the van when getting me unloaded. However, when we returned to the vehicle, it wasn't there. It was a windy morning, and our next thought was that it must have blown out of her purse. After some careful looking, my deposit slip was found stuck on a fence post about half a block

from where we parked. That was a good find, but my fully endorsed check was nowhere to be seen. My caregiver looked around a nearby gravel parking lot and alley, but didn't see the missing document. As we drove away, I continued to look as well, but without finding our goal.

Back at home, I called the bank to see what it would cost to have the check held so it couldn't be deposited. That expense was close to the full amount of the note, so I opted to wait and see what happened. The event near dad's workplace, and he also made a thorough search, but without success. I went to sleep Tuesday night still wondering my best course of action.

Wednesday morning, after finishing my Bible reading, I went to post the daily verse on Facebook and saw I had a message. It was from a friend of some of my friends, but nobody I knew. I hesitated to open the message, but decided to read it. The note said she had found my check on her driveway, nearly three blocks from where I parked, and wanted to arrange how to pick it up. Later that day, dad retrieved my wondering payment and everything was in its proper location by this afternoon.

It is unfortunate that the worst is expected, and excitement is found when the correct response happens. I'm thankful everything turned out well and lessons were learned for the future. Part of living in small, rural towns, is that many people know each other and how to get in touch if needed. Doing some Facebook investigation, I saw that the finder is a graduate of the same high school as me and works at the local hospital. Therefore, it's very possible we have met before, but in different circumstances. Most of all, I'm thankful for God's provision and demonstrating again we do not need to be anxious for anything.