Most of you know that my Grandma, Nanny Shea always prays to these three Saints whenever she has lost something. Coming from a Catholic family on my Mom’s side…this has become a family tradition, a known fact that if you lose something, you pray to them. As a matter of fact, one time I was out-of-town visiting one of my oldest best friends in Austin. Stephanie was attending The University of Texas. She and I had gone out for the evening on 6th Street. Not necessarily being “Angels” per say, because there was a lot of alcohol consumption, but we weren’t out of control either. Steph had decided to not carry a purse with her to hold her keys. She then proceeds to take the ignition key of her jeep off the key ring and slid it down the side of the plastic cellophane covering her cigarettes so that she wouldn’t have a huge key ring to carry around too. After Steph and I had stopped and visited several bars and ready to head home, we realized that “the key” is not in the plastic cellophane in her pack of cigarettes. At this point we aren’t really sure where we lost the key and not really sure if we can back track our steps. In panic mode, I stopped and told Steph, let’s say a quick prayer to St. Anthony, St. Ann and St. Jude. These Saints are supposed to help you find anything you have lost. We are now standing in the middle of a restroom in one of the bars, and start to say our prayer. As we leave this bar, we are trying to trace our steps back to the last few bars and while walking; we are looking down at the brick sidewalks, looking at the sewer drains in the street to find a needle in a haystack. If you are familiar with 6th Street in Austin, or any major college down where all the bars are located…this key is to never be found because there are people everywhere. After asking a zillion of people, going bar to bar and we trace our steps, becoming more desperate and thinking we may have to walk a couple of miles home or try to get a cab – with little to no money left on us. We arrive to what we think was the first bar we went to. We are asking around and somehow this dude from across the bar finds out we are looking for a key. He hold’s it up in the air, and says “You looking for a key? Is this it?”. Steph and I are in shock and quickly grab the key from him. We thank the random dude and head back to Steph’s place. We didn’t talk much on the way home, and there were probably two reasons we lost that key. 1. God wanted us to sober up before we drove home. 2. God wanted us to renew our faith in him. OK, and maybe the key in the cellophane wasn’t a good idea either. When Steph and I got home she asked me what the Saints names were again. She grabbed a post-it note and wrote them on her fridge and said she would never forget that event.
Which brings me to the reason for sharing this with you. Scotty and I had bought a brand new digital camera last Christmas. Shortly after we got that camera it disappeared and I’ve been praying to The Saints for the last several months. I have looked ALL OVER this house and have asked friends and family if they have seen this camera. Did we leave it at a friend’s house? Even the thought of someone taking it from our house while entertaining crossed my mind. Not that we would have anyone we know ever do that, but you just start to think these things. Mind you, it’s been almost a year since I’ve seen this camera and after we bought a new one for our trip to Antigua in October, I’ve totally forgotten about it. I was laying in bed the other night. I’m saying my prayers, talking to God, talking to my Dad, to Marsha, and my Sister Courtney. When all of a sudden the camera pops in my head. So I asked Courtney if she knew where the camera was. I said to her, I’ve talked to The Saints but I still haven’t found that camera and could she help me find it. A couple of days go by and we had family come in town from Virgina Beach. We are leaving Sunday morning to head out to church and as I go to put my coat on, I realize my right pocket is heavy. I reach into my pocket and there it was. The camera I’ve been looking for. With family around me, witnessing what I had found. I start to tell them about my prayers and question to Court. OK, so I start to freak out. Here’s the camera I’ve been looking for! The battery was totally dead, and I was hoping to find some pics of Court on it. After we returned from church, I put the battery in and didn’t have any random pics of Court. I’m not saying she’s a Saint – but I think she certainly had some pull in me finding that camera. I really don’t know why it would have been in that coat pocket in the first place.
Anyway, the point to this post is never give up on your prayers. Keep the faith and nothing is impossible. Write down these Saints names, because you just might need them some day.
Megan