Kevin Butler was doing some household chores on November 23.  He collected items from the table and countertops and put them in the trash can.  He loaded bags of trash and dropped them off at a transfer station near his home in Windham, New Hampshire.

Later that same day, Butler’s wife couldn’t find her wedding rings.  She had cleaned them earlier that day and placed them on a napkin to dry.

That is when a troubling thought came to Butler’s mind: he may have thrown the napkin into the trash not realizing that the rings were on it.

Butler rushed back to the transfer station and told the employees of his dilemma.  Dennis Senibaldi, the transfer station supervisor, was very helpful.  They viewed surveillance footage to see when and where Butler had dropped off his garbage.  They were able to trace the trash to a 20-ton trailer.  Using clues from Butler, Senibaldi used an excavator to start rummaging through the garbage.  "One of the things he said was [inside the bag] was celery stalks, and I could see a celery stalk sticking out the side of the bag," Senibaldi said, the AP reported.  They retrieved the bag and started sorting through its contents.  At the very bottom of the bag, underneath some carrot or sweet potato peelings, there was a napkin.  Senibaldi opened the napkin and found the two rings inside. *

The monetary value of the rings was not provided.  Likely, it was the meaning of the rings that made them extremely valuable to the Butlers.  Those rings represent their covenant of marriage and their love for one another.

Our sins placed us on the “trash heap” destined for destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).  But God sent His Son to look for us and to save us (Luke 19:10).  Our value to others may vary, but we are extremely valuable to God because He made us (Genesis 1:26-27) and He loves us (John 3:16).

God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be redeemed (Ephesians 1:7) and brought into His family and ultimately to an eternal home in heaven (Romans 6:23).

God will save and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).  You can be recovered and redeemed by Him if you will respond in trusting obedience to His love.

-- David A. Sargent

* Information gleaned from “Amazing recovery: New Hampshire man rescues wedding rings from 20 tons of trash” by Christine Rousselle of Fox News, www.foxnews.com.

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org