It all came out in the wash
I believe in miracles, I truly do. And I believe miracles happen all around us, every day, in many ways. We just don’t look for them or perhaps don’t recognize what happens as a miracle.
Calling the experience I am going to share with you a “miracle” might be a stretch, as I believe only God can bring about a miracle, whether directly or indirectly. But just for the sake of this story, I am taking great liberty with use of the word “miracle.” I don’t think God performs miracles on our treasured material things, such as a cell phone. But I may be wrong.
It all started on a busy Saturday, filled with all those weekend chores and more things to do than there are hours in the day. My Saturday routine begins with sorting all the week’s laundry in various piles on the floor, then putting up the pet gate to keep Charley from grabbing socks.
After a couple loads of laundry were done, folded and put away, I tossed in the pile of mostly jeans and left it washing while I went outside. It was that beautiful Saturday here a few weeks ago, and I think Bob and I worked outside a couple of hours. Then I went downtown and picked up some groceries, and when I returned home, the first thing I noticed when I walked inside was the hard-shell protective case of my cell phone, sans phone. Bob was in the living room watching a ballgame, and I picked up the case and asked him why my phone is not in here. He calmly answered, “It was in the washer.”
If you know my husband at all, you know that he generally has a cool and calm demeanor, and that was the way he was handling the situation. He said it probably won’t make any difference, but he had buried it in a box of rice, thinking that it was certainly worth a try. That’s easy for him to say. It’s not his years of photos and contact information and text messages and notes and calendar notations that just washed down the drain! I had no one to blame but myself. I was the one who had left the phone in my pocket. I was the one who had tossed in that particular load of wash. And I was the one pitching a hissy fit to end all hissy fits, so mad at myself for being so irresponsible.
You see why I don’t think God had a hand in any miracle here... I didn’t deserve it!
So the rest of the weekend was a blur, mostly of me reaching for my phone for one thing or another, only to remind myself that I no longer had a phone. That it was a soggy mess of nothingness, buried in a box of rice.
Monday morning, that sweet, calm man in my life dug my phone out of the rice and brought it to me at the breakfast table. Two of the four corners was smashed from flying around inside the washer. This thing was a goner, for sure. Once more I grumbled something to the effect of “nothing will happen anyway” when he said I might as well give it a try. So I pressed the button, knowing full well that absolutely nothing would happen. But that’s where I was wrong. And humbled. The screen stayed black for a very long time. But then suddenly the SAMSUNG name came on the screen, but then the screen instantly went black again. And I said, well, that was short-lived. But then, suddenly, my home screen came on, and one-by-one, all the apps appeared in their assigned places! While I held my breath, I tapped Photos, and all my pictures came up! I tapped Contacts, and all 432 of my contacts were still there! I tapped on Messages, Facebook, and Messenger, and everything popped up as if nothing had ever happened! I scrolled to all four of my active screens, and every app was in place! All my valuable “lists” were still there in the colorful ColorNotes! Candy Crush even remembered how far up the path I was! And Wordle remembered what level I had most recently passed!
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have words to describe it. And even though I don’t think God works at saving cell phones from disaster, I did experience “grace” in the same manner as God offers to each of us no matter what: I received grace even though I didn’t deserve it.
Fortunately I had replacement insurance on my phone. So Monday morning I took my waterslogged, beaten up, broken friend to NexTech where another very nice, calm man was able to transfer all my info to a shiny new phone, even an upgrade.
Grace, again. I don’t deserve it, but truly, I am thankful.
