Wallet Lost in the Ocean is Found

Marilyn Utz shares how she and her husband were able to maintain their joy even though his wallet was lost at the beginning of their tropical vacation … and then how it was restored in full

By Marilyn Utz

Categories: Guidance, Loss, Power of Prayer

Last summer, our family enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Hawaii. On the first day of our trip, we were happily snorkeling in an area where large turtles loved to come and play. My husband's wallet would not fit in our waterproof container, so he put it in his pocket while he helped our son get used to his new snorkeling gear. And then my husband noticed his wallet was not in his pocket. While we remained calm, worry began to set in as we realized that in addition to carrying his credit cards and license, he also had my driver's license, which I had given him just the day before.

As we swam around looking for the wallet in the water, we both turned to God in prayer. We acknowledged that God knows where everything in His universe is located and He would provide the answer we needed. While I swam around looking for the wallet, I just held to the fact that God would guide us. The Bible assures us: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the LORD in everything you do, and he will show you the right way” (Prov 3:5-6 GNT).

Swimming around, we were unable to find the wallet. As it was getting late, we headed back to the hotel and took the necessary steps—filing a police report and talking with the credit card agencies. Our main goal at this point was to continue to enjoy our trip and not let our thoughts be invaded by worry: What if we couldn't get on a flight to the next island or had trouble getting home? What if we couldn't rent a car or had trouble paying for food, etc.? Our family had been looking forward to the trip so much that my husband and I decided together to stay joyful, to trust God, and to be willing to do whatever we needed to do. We were not going to let fearful thoughts ruin our vacation. We would stay focused on God and the good God had provided with this lovely vacation.

My husband received a temporary driver's license from the police, and the next day we headed to the top of the island to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a wonderful time. As we were heading back to the hotel, we realized we were close the beach we had visited the day before and thought we would just stop and see if anyone had turned in the wallet. No one had, so we continued heading back to the hotel.

As we were traveling, a woman called my husband's cell phone explaining that a friend of hers had found his wallet, and she hoped we didn’t mind that she looked through it for a way to contact us. We were 5 minutes from where she was staying, and she lovingly guided us to her condo. The place she was staying was 10 miles away from the beach where we lost the wallet. She said she was delighted they found it because usually no one really played on the beach near where they were staying, but a friend happened to be taking a walk on the beach that morning and saw the wallet wash up on the shore.

God had the entire situation under control the whole time. We were very grateful to have the wallet returned with everything in it. But we were equally grateful that before we knew where the wallet was or how the situation would work out, we were able to stay joyful and trust God to guide us each step of the way.