August 30, 1993

FOUND MONEY II

Last night was pretty good. I made it into Veedersburg, Indiana by nightfall. Some kids were outside of the Church of the Nazerene and they called me over to see what I was doing. Since it was late, I decided to stop for the evening service. The service was good even though the congregation was pretty small. Afterwards, I got invited to stay in the church for the night. Also, I got invited to the surprise 60th birthday party for the pastor.

For a short time, I felt a little bit uncomfortable not really having a present to give the pastor even though I didn't know him but I got a good idea. I went out to the bike, pulled out the camera in the case that I had found at the state line, and presented it to him. This made the pastor's eyes shine and he said that he had always wanted a camera like it. After everybody had left, I asked the pastor on what I should do with the money order.

Pastor Retter didn't really give me any good ideas on what to do with it on whether to turn it in or keep it. To me, it didn't feel right to just through it away. I had found it in a very unique way. There was a reason why I found it.

When I got on the road the next morning, it was too early to stop at a bank so I pushed on through town. I stopped at a bank in Crawfordsville to see what their procedures were about lost or found money orders. It surprised me that the bank officer I talked didn't know what to do with it. This kind of money order wasn't sold in either Indiana or Illinois. It was a legal money order because they checked it out.

The bank officer told me that the best thing for me to do was think that the money order was a mini miracle from Adonai and I should cash it in. After I signed it, they cashed it. Before leaving the bank, I turned most of it and the money that I had gotten from the church in Ogden, IL into traveler's cheques.