Lost Tooth

Remember the parable of the lost coin? Well, this is a true story about a lost tooth. I had been praying about how to show God’s love to my coworkers when a friend at work lost a baby tooth from a necklace. It had fallen off her necklace somewhere between the office, a long hall, an elevator, across the parking lot to the sandwich shop, and back.

A near-impossible find, and we were unsuccessful at first. I went back to my desk and silently prayed to find the tooth for her so that her faith would be enlarged. Immediately I began to sneeze. In a room of seventy people, I had to leave.

My friend was still in the hall, looking for the lost tooth. I walked down the hallway toward the restroom while I searched and prayed.

The floor was black and white and sprinkled with speckles due to a construction project. As I thought we should ask the custodian to help, my eyes were directed to something white and gold. I picked it up and ran back to my friend, saying, “Tell me this isn’t a piece of popcorn!” She swept me off my feet and while practically crying, told me her grandma was waiting for her to find it before she returned to Italy to have it dipped in gold for her. Her grandma would never understand how she lost the tooth.

When she put me down on the ground, I said, “I prayed to Jesus to find that tooth for you. God caused me to sneeze, so I had to come out into the hall just to find the missing tooth.” She agreed. We went back to our meeting, and at the end of the day, I told her I had never been hugged so hard. The next day she brought a gift to me.

When I opened it, I found a leather band with some strange squiggly letters on it. I asked, “Does this mean something?” She told me to turn the band over, and I read, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7, NKJV). She explained she thought the Scripture was appropriate because of the situation in looking for the lost tooth. I thanked her and told her God loved her very much. He not only had heard my prayer but also would hear her prayers too.

What prayer is on your heart today? God hears, and He hears everything that concerns us.

Melinda Smith