Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Luke 15:8-10 NIV
A Stolen Violin, a Parking Lot Prayer, and the Song She’s Been Saving For This Moment
Violinist and vocalist Rosemary Siemens on miraculous loss, impossible return, and why “Path of Prayer” was always meant for the National Day of Prayer
The violin is 312 years old.
Crafted in Paris in 1714 and once played in the orchestra of King Louis XIV, it was gifted to violinist and vocalist Rosemary Siemens by a generous patron. She named it Sparkle, carries it everywhere in a sparkly case, and has taken it to Carnegie Hall, the Sistine Chapel, and the Grand Ole Opry. It is her voice and her ministry. In April of 2016, it was stolen.
After a late-night performance at a gala in Santa Barbara, a friend set Sparkle down outside a hotel room door for just a moment. A moment was all it took. The violin was gone. Hours of searching followed. Police. Dumpsters. Gas stations. A prayer chain spreading across the country. Nothing. By 4:00 in the morning, sitting in a parking lot with no answers and an early flight to catch, Rosemary didn’t know if she could leave. “I thought, if I leave Santa Barbara, I will probably never see my violin again.”
That’s when a black SUV pulled up. To this day, she feels the man behind the wheel was sent from God. He had heard about the missing violin at a nearby gas station. He had musicians in his family; he understood. Rosemary was sobbing so hard she couldn’t speak. Her friend leaned across and asked the stranger, “Can we say a prayer?” Right there, through car windows at 4:00 in the morning, they prayed together. Then the man told them he worked in prison ministries, offered a $2,000 reward, and promised to put the word out everywhere.
“That gave me just enough faith to get on that airplane,” she says.
The flight landed in Seattle. No texts. No calls. Rosemary walked through the terminal in tears, convinced it was over. A 312-year-old violin. Gone. She had already begun accepting the loss when her phone lit up. It was the hotel manager. She answered. And the woman on the other end could barely speak.
She was crying.
“Rosemary. You need to hear what just happened.” A man had walked through the front doors of the hotel. Not a guest. No one knew him. He hadn’t called ahead. He simply approached the front desk, set something down, and said: “I hear you’ve been looking for this.” Then he turned and walked out the door. Sparkle was back.
“I completely lost it,” Rosemary says, her voice still full of the memory. “We were both sobbing. I could not believe what I was hearing. If that is not a miracle, I don’t know what is.”
God didn’t just return a violin. He kept sending strangers to help, and something moved in the heart of whoever brought it back. That is the real miracle.
Rosemary has carried this testimony into concert halls, churches, and venues all over the world. God uses every circumstance for good and for His glory, even the ones that break your heart in the middle of the night.
Eight years ago, she wrote a song called “Path of Prayer.” Rosemary told her husband Eli Bennett she believed it was being held for the National Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. She didn’t know how. She just knew she was supposed to wait. Only God could have prepared the footsteps. At a performance in Orlando, where Rosemary and Eli took the stage together, they met Kathy Branzell, president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. An invitation followed that made eight years of waiting make perfect sense.
On May 7, 2026, Rosemary and Eli Bennett performed “Path of Prayer” live at the United States Capitol for the 2026 Congressional National Day of Prayer Observance. The song she had written eight years ago. The moment she had always believed was coming. Watch the 2026 Broadcast to enjoy this powerful song!
You may not be facing a lost violin. You may feel that you have lost your peace, your hope. Or maybe, you feel that you've lost something tangible. A precious heirloom. A prodigal family member. Let's take it to God, in prayer.
With all this in mind, will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, You are our Good Shepherd. You leave the 99 to go after the 1; all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents and steps into eternal life in Christ Jesus. We cry out to You for the people who are lost; the ones that are close to us but far from You. Bring them into the knowledge of salvation through Jesus, and give us the boldness to speak of Your love, grace, and mercy. For the areas where we feel that something is missing or has been taken, we pray that You would renew hearts, that hope would be restored and that joy would be re-filled. Turn our hearts to You always, in times of rejoicing and in times of weeping. You are where we turn to first, and where we find our hope and our peace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen!
