Lost Purse

Have you ever lost something important to you? A few months ago BRCC (Blue Ridge Community Church) organized a clothing giveaway event for people in need of clothes. The event was a huge success with enough clothes donated to rival The Rugged Warehouse and despite torrential rain, members of the community poured in quicker then the weather. No doubt many families were touched through this outreach yet I believe one of the most moving stories was not that of free clothes received but that of a purse found.

One woman, her name eludes me, did not stand out in the crowd of the masses searching through pants, shirts, dresses and every size style and type of clothing but her story is the one that stuck with me. Medication, keys, money and many personal possessions were what was in her purse; a purse that was lost in the crowd. After more then an hour of searching including dozens of volunteers and loudspeaker announcements the purse was gone, likely a prize claimed by a random visitor. The woman was not ready to give up, she couldn’t – her life was in that purse and she couldn’t go home without it. One final search through her vehicle in the hopes that it was overlooked the last time she searched, and one unlikely “saint” to help her search. A former atheist, Will, offered to walk her to her vehicle to search for that which she knew would not be there.

After an emotional breakdown in front of a man she had never met before, Will told her he wanted to pray for her (this in itself took a great deal of courage and obedience to God). After Will finished praying he looked at her and told her “I am going to go and get your purse”, in his retelling of this account he couldn’t believe he had said this, he knew the purse was lost but now he had made a vow to this woman (God only knows what strange thoughts she was having about Will at this time) and he knew that he had to deliver. As Will walked back into the church he prayed to God saying “OK God I made this promise and I think it was from you so I could really use that purse now”. What Will did not know was that while he was outside, praying with the woman, the purse was found. As Will entered the church he was handed the purse to take to the woman; a miracle had been performed, God had answered a prayer and a life was touched.

I do not know what has become of the woman since that day but I do know that she was touched by God and after you are touched by Him you are never the same. So many people were touched by this story and it has spread from out of the church and into the world; my dad had the opportunity to share it with a nurse that was attending to him during a recent hospital visit for some tests. I may never know what has become of the woman who lost her purse and ended up finding much more then she lost, I will also likely never know how this story has affected others who have heard it but what I do know is God is at work all around us and is constantly touching lives. Have you ever been touched by God? If not, maybe you should ask yourself why.