May 20, 2012 - Pond Bank Community Church hosts the 5th annual Motorcycle Sunday. A morning of motorcycle overload, Jesus, music, fellowship, and good food. A great morning was had by all and after a delicious lunch, the motorcyclists were off on their group ride.
Along the way, a camera was found beside the road by one of the riders. He turned it in to my Dad in case one of the other riders had lost it and inquired about it. No one ever did.
My Dad held onto it for awhile and happened to mention it to Chris and I a few months later. The camera was obviously damaged beyond repair and would never function again but the memory card inside seemed unharmed. We brought the camera home and popped the card into our card reader to see if the picture files were damaged or not. Neither of us were prepared for what we would discover next. A beautiful couple. Obviously married. Airport shots. Traveling to another country. Two adorable children. An adoption!! Our hearts sank as we knew that these were not just random pictures but ones of great significance and sentimental value. How would we ever find the owners of the camera?? A few pictures prior to the adoption trip seemed to be local and we tried to make out a specific location but the words were just not quite clear enough. We did multiple google searches and focused on finding that location some how, some way. Alas, we failed to narrow anything down and gave up. Many times over the last few years I would see the "Lost Camera" folder saved on our computer and look through the pictures again, hoping for some inspiration. A few times I considered sharing one of the photos on Facebook, asking everyone and anyone to "share it" in hopes that it would eventually warrant a successful reunion with these dear people. I never followed through thinking surely it was pointless and there was just no possible way for me to ever find these people.
Fast forward to Wednesday, November 4th, 2015. The pictures were burning in my mind and heart as I thought about how badly I would want those pictures back if I were in their shoes. Pictures are everything to me so once again, I clicked through each one hoping and praying for a new revelation as to how to contact this dear family. AwakenHaiti. The gentleman had a shirt on that said AwakenHaiti. I did a quick google search and realized it was a small organization based in Carlisle that specifically deals with rescuing children. I figured it was a huge shot in the dark but I emailed the picture to the contact email address for this organization. I briefly explained that I was looking for the owners of a lost camera and asked if anyone could recognize the people in the photo to help me identify who it belonged to. I knew it would either get me headed in the right direction or they would think I was crazy and I'd never hear back.
7:41 AM - Sent the email feeling slightly crazy.
6:43 PM - A reply from Awaken Haiti. "Wow, yes I know them. I will forward your email on to them!"
9:19 PM - "Dear Jessie, YOU ARE AN ANGEL and GOD has answered prayer!! My name is Robin and the camera that you found was one that we lost three and half years ago......"
As I read these precious words and the rest of this dear woman's email first thing Thursday morning upon waking up, I was in tears and ecstatic! WOW!! What a crazy God moment this was unraveling. I couldn't believe it and I'm pretty sure she couldn't either! :) One of the best and coolest parts was that same day that I reached out and she got the wonderful news...It was her BIRTHDAY!!!! We exchanged several emails back and forth over the next few days and decided on a meeting time for Sunday, November 8th. My family was together celebrating several birthdays at my parent's house. They were coming from about an hour or so away and what a happy reunion it was when they got there! BEAUTIFUL family. What a relief and joy it was to FINALLY hand over the lost camera to this precious family. I was giddy with excitement! :) We exchanged stories of how and when it was lost and how and when it was found. (Just a few hour time window.) In a fluster of getting the two children into the car to go on a family lake outing, the camera was placed on top of their car. It rode safely up there for quite awhile until it eventually fell off along the road and was found shortly after by the motorcyclists.
While this may just seem like a heart warming coincidence to some, to me it could not have come at a more perfect time. The inspiration to just now google "AwakenHaiti" after looking through those pictures SO many times before was totally God inspired. While I wasn't on the receiving end of the lost pictures, I was blessed greatly by affirmation that God does care about all the little details in all of our lives and while the answers we hope and plead for may not arrive when we think they should, He DOES still care and He is always working.
I am so thankful for this happy ending (even if it did take 3.5 years) and for our new found friends! I hope that reading this story is as much of a blessing and encouragement to others as being part of this reunion was to me!
