This post is full of emotions so join the ride! :)
When Jack and I got married three years ago we exchanged family rings. I got an antique ring that belonged to my great - grandmother on my mom's side and Jack received the ring that both his dad and granddaddy wore.
(it's hard to see mine in this picture but it's there!)
(the thick band is his!)
It has always been a neat point of interest to talk about my Nana that died shortly after I was born and more than likely brought this ring "off the boat" with her from Ireland. We would share that Jack's Grandmomma bought the ring for his granddaddy and when he passed away kept the ring and gave it to Ms. Becky who gave it to Mr. Ricky and they gave it to me to give to Jack.
Fast forward to July 3, 2011.
We were invited by some sweet friends to spend the afternoon at Gantt Lake. We went and after hanging out for a while went out on the boat. The guys were gonna get in the water to see if they could find some catfish and Jack jumped in first. He took about four strokes in the water and felt something funny on his hand. When he pulled it out of the water he realized his ring had come off. We had NEVER had that happen before. He held his hand up and said "my wedding ring is gone." I asked if he was serious and of course he was. He had stopped immediately so the guys jumped in behind him and all started feeling around with their feet and looking. Nothing. Meanwhile I'm on the boat explaining to the girls why the ring is so important and crying. After that we weren't so excited to be out and about at the lake. The next day we told the Armstrong's and my precious father in law was wonderful. He kept telling us "Accidents happen. We love ya'll more than the ring. Don't worry about it." We were both devastated. It was a rough couple of days.
On Monday afternoon I text a friend from Auburn to see if her son and daughter-in-law still had their scuba gear. They did. So I text them. The next day we talked to them on the phone and scheduled them to come down later that day. They drove down here and we went out on the lake. We had a pretty good idea where we were when it came off so we went straight there. As we got close we noticed the weather was getting bad so we hurried a bit more. Well we ended up taking shelter under the carport that was at the house closest to the spot. We ended up meeting the girl that lived there and she told us the weather wasn't getting any better. Jack asked if we could just come back straight to her house to look instead of coming by boat. She said yes.
We left and went to dinner. We were bummed but Matthew was encouraging saying that he felt fairly confident that if we had a metal detector we could find it. (Thanks Matthew and Emily McVay for coming!)
We ordered a metal detector the next day. :) Of course it took a few days to come in and then we have been BUSY the last couple of weeks. So, today, July 22, we went out ring hunting. We loaded up the jon boat, the metal detector, the underwater flashlight the McVay's left, goggles and extra batteries for everything and headed back to Gantt. We got to the Lake about 11:45. We tried to let the homeowner know we were there but she never answered. We unloaded all of the above gear and off we went. I sat on the boat ramp and watched for other boats and made sure our boat didn't float too far away. About 8 minutes after Jack being out there "detecting" he said "come hold the detector and and I'm gonna check". I waded out and held it while he dove. He came up with a not so happy face. He had a Bud Lite can. NOT what we were looking for. I stood in the same spot to help him keep his bearings. He took about 5 more s-l-o-w steps and heard something again. This time he said "I'm gonna feel with my feet and then check." He felt for a minute or so and then said "do you see the anticipation on my face?" "YES, I do, go check, I'm super nervous." So, he dove. When he came up his face was blank and then his hand popped out of the water and the RING was in it. It has an inscription so we checked for it.
IT WAS OUR RING!!!!
(the whole process took about 15 minutes!)
I screamed, teared up and started shaking. We were THRILLED! I sent out several mass texts that said "What was LOST has been FOUND!!!!! We found Jack's wedding ring!!!!!" Everyone was excited for us. We loaded up the truck just as the rain started. Thank you Lord for holding it off! As we headed home we called the Armstrong's who were shocked and thrilled! :)
It was dirty so we took it to a local jeweler to get it cleaned up.
After 19 days in the bottom of the lake.
We just kept smiling and laughing. We could not BELIEVE that we found it.
We talked about how Jack has a perfect sermon illustration when preaching on Luke 15. This was a perfect reminder of how we should pursue our friends and family who have not repented and share the Love of Jesus with them and a good reminder of the CELEBRATION we should throw when the Lord saves a repentant sinner.
We are so thankful that we found such a precious family heirloom.
We'll go pick it up from the Jeweler's in the morning!
(and NO worries, it will NOT be worn in the lake ever again. ever.)
