Ant and contact lens-an inspirational rock-climbing story-Unproven!

The Rock Climber Who Lost a Contact Lens, Prayed, and it Was Found Being Carried by An Ant-Claimed to Be True!

Summary of eRumor
Brenda went on a rock-climbing expedition and her contact lens was knocked out while she was hanging on the rock face. When she finished her climb, she thought about the bigness of God and prayed that her contact lens would be found. A new group of climbers below yelled, "Anybody lose a contact lens?" It was found being carried across the face of the rock by an ant. It says it's a true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona.

The Truth
The most commonly circulated version of this story says it is a true account from Joshua and Karen Zarandona. We contacted them and Joshua said he received the story via email and simply passed it along. He is not the originator of it.

A published version of the story is in the book Keep a Quiet Heart by inspirational author Elisabeth Elliot. In a chapter she titled Lost and Found she said it came from Brenda Foltz of Princeton, Minnesota. In the book Brenda tells her story first-hand but apart from that it's fairly similar to the version in the forwarded email.

Last updated 05/28/07

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

THE ANT AND THE CONTACT LENS

A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona.

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing.

Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.

Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it. Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."
At the risk of being accused of being fatalistic, I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.