To Sabbath School teachers: This story is for Sabbath, January 23.

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Y

aroslava had a favorite memory stick.

The memory stick was gray and blue and attached to a heart-shaped key chain. On the heart was a red ladybug with black spots and the words, “God loves you.”

Yaroslava saved music on the memory stick for singing at church. Yaroslava loved to sing, and she was often asked to sing for special music.

One summer, Yaroslava needed the memory stick to sing a song at day camp at her school. But she couldn’t remember where she had put it. She stuck her hand into her purse and felt around. Nothing. She looked around the bedroom that she shared with her little brother. Where could it be? “God, help me to find the memory stick,” she prayed out loud. “You know how much I need it.”

Yaroslava looked on the bookshelf. She saw lots of books and a small treasure chest with a tiny angel inside. She also saw an empty cell phone case. But no memory stick. “Where else could I have put the memory stick?” she thought.

She looked over on her desk. She saw a computer and a lamp. She saw her backpack and her purse. But no memory stick.

Then she looked on the windowsill. She saw a plant in a pot, but nothing else.

Yaroslava realized that she didn’t have any more time to look. It was time to go to day camp. She went to Mother.

“I can’t find my memory stick,” she said.

Mother took Yaroslava’s cell phone and downloaded the needed song from Yaroslava’s computer. Then Yaroslava went to day camp, where she sang.

Back at home that evening, Yaroslava looked for the memory stick again. She really wanted it. It wasn’t convenient to save music on her cell phone.

“God, help me to find the memory stick,” she prayed.

She looked on the bookshelf. Nothing. On her desk. Nothing. The windowsill. Nothing. Behind her bed and in the closet. Nothing. That night she remembered the memory stick in her bedtime prayer. “Dear God, thank You for the good day today,” she prayed. “Thank You that I could spend time with friends. Please help me to have a good night. Help me to find the memory stick.”

She prayed the same prayer the next night and then the next. But the memory stick was nowhere to be found. A year passed, and Yaroslava kept praying.

She didn’t want to spend money on a new memory stick. She was sure that God would help her to find it. “If God cares for the sparrows, He will care for me to find the memory stick,” she thought.

One day, Yaroslava was rearranging the books on her bookshelf when she saw something gray and blue wedged between two books. It was attached to a heart-shaped keychain with a red ladybug and the words, “God loves you.”

Yaroslava grabbed the memory stick and ran to Mother. “Mother, I found the memory stick!” she exclaimed.

She returned to her bedroom with a big smile. “Thank You, God, for helping me find the memory stick,” she prayed.

Yaroslava prays to God all the time, and she talks to Him about everything.

“God is my best Friend,” she said. “God always hears our prayers, and He always answers sooner or later.” ⎭

This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help construct a building for Yaroslava’s school in Ukraine.