Ned lost his hearing aid. This gentle 94-year-old man had only had it 3 weeks. Without it, his ability to communicate was crippled. He asked two of his friends for help. Juanita and Julia, two of his neighbors at the retirement center, quickly and eagerly came over to assist Ned and diligently searched the entire apartment. They checked in the sofa, behind the doors, and under every table. When they returned to Ned, he could see by the disappointed looks on their faces that they were unable to find his hearing aid.

Seeing Ned's despair, Julia assured him that he shouldn't worry. In fact, she immediately contacted the cleaning staff and asked that they keep an eye out for the hearing aid as they cleaned. Within minutes, a member of the cleaning staff knocked on the door.

After hearing of Ned's dilemma, she walked in, quietly stood in the middle of the room and softly began to pray.

"Oh Lord, this poor 'ol man has lost his hearing aid. He needs it so bad. Lord, please help us to find it."

No sooner had she opened her eyes that she heard a noise; it sounded like a small motor running. "Do you hear that?" she asked the other women. They both strained to listen for the sound.

"Yeah, I do," Julia said surprisingly. The impromptu search team followed the mysterious sound into the bathroom. Sure enough, there sat the hearing aid, buzzing away behind the toilet.

"It's a miracle!" declared the cleaning lady.

Was it a miracle?

Could finding a hearing aid even remotely deserve such divine intervention from God?

God smiled on them all.
Some of the folks at the retirement center began to ponder those questions, as did I when Juanita shared the story with me.

The word "miracle" has two definitions. The first listed definition was "a marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of God." And the second listed definition was "any amazing or wonderful occurrence."

On that day, a group of people chose to consider someone else's needs above their own. They eagerly and wholeheartedly gave of themselves to help a friend. A sincere and earnest prayer was offered to God, with genuine faith that He would bring guidance. God smiled on them all and "... worked all things together for good ..." (Romans 8:28)

Through faith, we're able to see the hand of God working in our lives. By seeing his work in our lives, our faith grows stronger. So, either way you look at it, what happened that day was a miracle. I'm certain that Ned would agree.

(Story shared by Juanita Vaughan from Hendersonville, Tennessee.)