The prodigal ice chest

It might seem like a strange topic for a blog entry, but we have here a story of epic proportions. If I had become a preacher as one of my earlier paths suggested, there would be material here for a very good sermon! Maybe even a series!

It all started at the 100 American Craftsmen Show at the Kenan Center last summer (2007). Our usual sweep of the area after packing the van failed to reveal the ice chest shown above resting off to the side. Part way home we remembered, but we were not inclined to drive the many several miles back to retreive it!

Exactly one year later, Leah Cory, walked into the booth at this year's version of the same show, and handed Cheryl the ice chest! If that were the end of the story, it would be a very good one. Leah had found the errant ice chest, had known who it belonged to, and had tucked it away in her van.... for most of us it would be a story of a new found ice chest, but Leah saved it for a year and brought it back to Lockport a year later to return it! A fine basis for a sermon.

But here comes "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would say. That found ice chest had a bottle of tonic water, and a pound of cheese in it - a good reward for the finder? Not for Leah! She drank the tonic water, and ate the cheese, but a year later, she put a fresh pound of cheese, and a new bottle of tonic water in the ice chest that she presented to Cheryl on Friday!!!!!!!

Thank you Leah, and thank you for a world where such people do such things. It is really easy to get discouraged and lose faith these days, but the Leahs show us different!