Dont believe in miracles—depend on them.

—Laurence J. Peter

不要相信奇跡，而是依靠奇跡。

——?jiǎng)趥愃埂·彼得

My friend Annette and I had decided to go to a regional Writers Conference over Valentines Day weekend in Livermore， California. We were taking a mini vacation together and couldnt have been more excited. We wanted to get there the day before the conference and settle into our hotel room.

The weather forecast was predicting high winds and heavy rain， so we decided to take an early morning commuter train and then connect with a city bus to our hotel. We arrived early enough to enjoy breakfast in the lobby. We even had the good fortune to be able to get our room before the standard afternoon check-in.

All was going well. We were off to a perfect start.

Once in our room， the storm hit with a fury！ The wind and rain made staying in the only sensible option. As lunchtime approached， we decided to try a phone app that would bring almost any restaurants food to us—for a small fee， of course. We decided on burgers from a well-known chain. If we ate a hearty lunch， we thought， we would be satisfied until breakfast the next morning.

The food-delivery app promised a forty-five-minute wait time. Forty-five minutes came and went， then an hour， and then an hour and a half. After two hours， I contacted the restaurant. They explained that our burgers were under a heat lamp the entire time， just waiting for the driver. We canceled the order and decided to venture out in an Uber to continue our quest for burgers. I downloaded the app， feeling like a tech-savvy senior.

The front-desk manager suggested a restaurant at a golf course across town that had great hamburgers. But when we got there， we discovered they were closed due to the bad weather. And our driver had already left by the time we read the “closed” sign.

We stood outside the building on that miserably cold and wet day， trying to decide what to do next. Of course， the solution was easy： Just order another Uber.

I began digging in my purse for my phone， but it wasnt there！ Soon， I realized I had left it in the car. The driver was long gone， and so was my phone， which was only a week old！

Calmly， Annette took out her phone from her purse and ordered another ride. While waiting for the driver to arrive， I panicked. Maybe the next passenger in that car would find my new phone and keep it. Annette tried to comfort me but I continued to sink deeper into despair. I must confess that I dont know why it never occurred to us to call my cell phone to see if the driver had found it！

Our second driver arrived and took us to a fast-food restaurant that we remembered seeing near our hotel. As we pulled into the parking lot， I suddenly saw what I thought was our first Uber！ Could it be？We were far from where he had dropped us off， but still， it was the same kind of dark gray compact car and it did have an Uber sticker in the window.

“Annette， thats the car we were in！” I yelled. I couldnt open my car door fast enough. I ran to the car， peered18 in the window， and saw my phone on the back seat！ I hurried into the building and began searching for our driver， a stranger I had only seen from behind as he drove us. Could I remember his face？ Thankfully， I did. I found him sitting in a booth. He looked up， surprised to see me.

“What are you doing here？” he inquired politely.

“My phone is in your car. I left it there when you dropped us off at the golf course. They were closed because of the weather， so another driver brought us here.”

“How did you know I was here？” he asked. I could only explain it as a miracle. We retrieved20 the phone， and the driver insisted on taking us to another restaurant. After several hours of hunger， we finally had our burgers. Never had ordinary hamburgers tasted so good.

Finding that phone in an unfamiliar city was impossible， but serendipitously we did. My faith grew that day， and I come back to this story from time to time when I need a boost—when I need to remember that miracles do happen.

我和我的朋友安妮特決定在情人節(jié)周末去加利福尼亞州的利弗莫爾參加一個(gè)地區(qū)性的作家會(huì)議。我們一起去度個(gè)小假期，真是太令人興奮了。我們想在會(huì)議前一天到達(dá)那里，在旅館的房間里安頓下來。

天氣預(yù)報(bào)說會(huì)有狂風(fēng)和大雨，所以我們決定乘坐一輛清晨的通勤列車，然后再搭一輛開往酒店的城市巴士。我們很早就到了，可以在大堂里享用早餐。我們甚至有幸能在標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的下午登記入住的時(shí)間之前拿到房間。

一切都很順利。我們有一個(gè)完美的開始。

一進(jìn)我們的房間，暴風(fēng)雨就猛烈來襲了！風(fēng)雨交加使留在室內(nèi)成為唯一明智的選擇。隨著午餐時(shí)間的臨近，我們決定嘗試一款手機(jī)應(yīng)用程序，它可以為我們帶來幾乎所有餐廳的食物——當(dāng)然，需要支付少量費(fèi)用。我們決定在一家知名連鎖店買漢堡。如果吃到一頓豐盛的午餐，我們想，直到第二天早上吃早飯的時(shí)候前我們都會(huì)一直心滿意足。

送餐應(yīng)用程序承諾了45分鐘的等待時(shí)間。45分鐘過去了，一個(gè)小時(shí)過去了，一個(gè)半小時(shí)過去了。兩小時(shí)后，我聯(lián)系了那家餐館。他們解釋說，我們的漢堡一直放在加熱燈下，只是在等司機(jī)。我們?nèi)∠擞唵?，決定冒險(xiǎn)用“優(yōu)步”（一個(gè)有名的打車應(yīng)用程序）打一輛車?yán)^續(xù)尋找漢堡。我下載了這個(gè)應(yīng)用程序，感覺自己像一個(gè)精通技術(shù)的資深人士。

前臺(tái)經(jīng)理推薦了在鎮(zhèn)子另一端一個(gè)高爾夫球場(chǎng)那兒的一家餐廳，那里有很棒的漢堡包。但是當(dāng)我們到達(dá)那里時(shí)，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)他們因?yàn)樘鞖獠缓藐P(guān)門了。而當(dāng)我們看到“停止?fàn)I業(yè)”的標(biāo)志時(shí)，司機(jī)已經(jīng)離開了。

在那凄涼潮濕一天，我們站在那棟樓外，想決定下一步怎么辦。當(dāng)然，解決方法很簡(jiǎn)單：再叫一輛“優(yōu)步”。

我開始從錢包里掏手機(jī)，但它不在那兒！很快，我意識(shí)到我把它落在車?yán)锪?。司機(jī)早就走了，我的手機(jī)也沒了，這個(gè)手機(jī)我才剛用一個(gè)星期！

安妮特平靜地從錢包里取出手機(jī)，又叫了一輛車。在等待司機(jī)來的期間，我驚慌失措。也許那輛車上的下一個(gè)乘客會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)我的新手機(jī)并拿走它。安妮特試圖安慰我，但我繼續(xù)陷入更深的絕望中。我必須承認(rèn)，不知道為什么，我們從來沒有想過打電話給我的手機(jī)，看看司機(jī)是否發(fā)現(xiàn)了它！

我們的第二個(gè)司機(jī)來了，帶我們?nèi)チ艘患椅覀冇浀迷诰频旮浇吹竭^的快餐店。當(dāng)我們的車開進(jìn)停車場(chǎng)的時(shí)候，我突然看到了我覺得是我們的第一輛“優(yōu)步”的那輛車！可能嗎？我們離從那輛車上下來的地方很遠(yuǎn)，但是，這輛車是同一種深灰色的小型車，而且車窗上確實(shí)有一個(gè)“優(yōu)步”的貼紙。

“安妮特，那就是我們剛才坐的車！”我喊道。我以最快的速度打開我的車門。我跑向那輛車，朝車窗里看去，看到我的手機(jī)在車后座上！我急忙走進(jìn)樓里，開始尋找我們的司機(jī)。他是個(gè)我只在他開車時(shí)看見過他背后的陌生人。我能記得他的臉嗎？謝天謝地，我做到了。我發(fā)現(xiàn)他坐在一個(gè)隔間里。他抬起頭，驚訝地看著我。

“你在這里干什么？”他禮貌地問道。

“我的手機(jī)在你的車?yán)铩Ｄ闼臀覀內(nèi)ジ郀柗蚯驁?chǎng)的時(shí)候我把它忘在那兒了。因?yàn)樘鞖庠颍麄冴P(guān)門了，所以另一個(gè)司機(jī)把我們帶到這里來了?！?/p>

“你怎么知道我在這里？”他問。我只能把它解釋為奇跡。我們找回了手機(jī)，那位司機(jī)堅(jiān)持要帶我們?nèi)チ硪患也宛^。餓了幾個(gè)小時(shí)后，我們終于吃到了漢堡。普通的漢堡包從來沒這么好吃過。

在一個(gè)陌生的城市里找到那部手機(jī)是不可能的，但我們碰巧找到了。在那一天我的信念成長(zhǎng)了。當(dāng)我需要激勵(lì)的時(shí)候，當(dāng)我需要記住奇跡確實(shí)會(huì)發(fā)生的時(shí)候，我會(huì)不時(shí)地回憶這個(gè)故事。