When the Lost is Found

So probably about 6 weeks ago, I checked out some books at the library, and then renewed them on-line a couple of times and finally reached my 'renewal limit' today, which means that I had to get myself to the library today! ;) So yesterday, I started gathering my books to return and couldn't find one. Uh-oh. So I started thinking.... and searching.... rifling through nighstands, looking under the bed (only dustbunnies under there!), looking through stacks of magazines in various places, in my office, on the bookshelves, in the bathroom.... It was nowhere to be found. And it was just a little book, so it was even harder to find. I remembered seeing it last on Jack's nightstand because he had taken an interest in it, so I asked him, which later put him on a search through the closet and through some suitcases (seriously!) to find it. No luck. He thought he remembered taking it somewhere with him on a trip.... sigh. At this point I decided that it was probably only going to cost me a couple of dollars when I told the library I had lost it, but I just hated having to do that. But the search was called off for the night.

Well, this morning a sudden lightbulb went off in my head. If Jack thought that he had taken it on a trip somewhere, and the search through the suitcases had proven fruitless, maybe it was in his laptop case! And what do you know? That's where I found it. :) yay! It's silly, but I was so happy about that and thankful that I didn't have to tell the library that I had lost a book.

I'm very sentimental and I don't like it when I've lost something and can't find it. Case in point: I had a beautiful silver bracelet that is identical to one that my sister wears that we've both had for years. It was something I gave her a long time ago... and I wore mine pretty much every day. It reminds me of her. :) Well, Jack and I were out of town recently and somewhere along the way, the bracelet must have fallen off and I couldn't find it anywhere. :( It really bothered me and I tried everything to find it, but it was gone. This past week, my family gave me a very pretty new necklace that I've been wanting and then surprised me with a matching bracelet! So now I have a new bracelet to wear -- and I do love it. But you know the funny thing about things that you lose? They really can't be replaced... new things move in and take their place, but never to really take the place of the old. Even now, as I put on my new bracelet each day, there's a little reminder of my sister and the bracelet that I lost -- but the whole point of the bracelet was to remember her anyway, so there's good to be found in it all. :)

This is so much longer than I intended, which is usually what happens with me. ha One last thought -- as I pondered my gratitude over finding the lost book today, it made me think of this verse: "...but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive. He was lost, and now he's found!" Luke 15:32 I tend to think of the lost being found, in the spiritual realm, as sort of a one time kind of event. And I suppose if you are talking about salvation, it is... but I was thinking about all the times I've been 'lost' and God has 'found' me. So many times.... and I'm very thankful that He always keeps looking - under the bed, in the bathroom, in the closets -- even the suitcases. He never gives up on me. Now THAT is something to be thankful for!