lost and found

At about 5:30 Tuesday evening I was in a semi-panic.

I could not find my phone.

I looked at home.

I looked in the cafeteria where I ate supper.

I looked at the fieldhouse.

I looked in my car.

I looked in my trunk.

I looked in the cafeteria, again.

Actually, my home, my car and the cafeteria got several stops.

By 6:00 a lot people knew I'd lost my phone.

It was humiliating, but necessary to ask if they'd seen it.

I came home to grab my computer and headed back to KCU.

My phone's hotspot shows up on my computer as my WIFI option.

I went back to Lusby Center where the cafe is, with my computer.

One of my soccer boys was in the lobby.

He helped me figure out how to pull up the "Find My" app.

It said my phone was at my house.

So I came home and looked yet again.

In the laundry room.

Toilet, in case it dropped in there.

Trash cans.

Tops of washer and dryer.

Buffet, table and counters in kitchen.

Back porch.

In the crock the dog food is in.

On the grill.

The tables and chairs on the back porch.

The tote I put some fall decor in. 

At 6:30 Anita was at my house.

She had gone to the Mission Thrift Store to look and hadn't found it.

I moved to an almost full panic.

With my computer in hand, we returned to the store.

No luck.

From there my faithful friend took me back to the cafeteria.

I stood by the dumpster with my computer, hoping my hotspot would show up. I was ready to gladly look through the garbage bags if it meant I'd find my phone.

No luck.

Anita ate dinner and I sat with her.

• My head hurt.
• My stomach was rolling.
• Tears were threatening.
• All of my contacts are on my cell phone.
• My calendar is on my cell phone.
• My wake up alarm is on my phone.
• My internet access is on my phone.
• I felt lost.
• More lost than my phone.

When she finished eating we agreed we should return to my house.

We started at the mailbox and worked our way toward the house.

I was looking at the "find my" app on my computer screen this time.

I noticed the computer icon was getting closer to the phone icon.

I followed it through my house to the back porch.

When the computer icon was almost on top of the phone icon I stopped.

Took the lid off the tote and began to empty it.

I found my phone, sideways, in the back and bottom of the tote.

I don't even remember having it in my hand when I added something to the tote.

I learned some things tonight.

1. Just because I looked doesn't mean it isn't there.

2. The "find my" app is valuable and can be trusted.

3. I depend on my phone for a lot more than I realized.

I was reminded of a few things tonight.

1. I need to memorize or write down my kids phone numbers.

2. A landline cannot be misplaced.

3. Good friends are invaluable.

I am challenged by a truth:

The more I value something, the more energy, time and focus I am willing to spend to find it when it is misplaced. And not be bothered or put out by it. Especially if I am the one who is responsible for losing it. 

I am convicted by that truth.

I am reminded of Jesus' teaching in Luke 15, and I have to ask myself: "Am I spending even a fraction of the intensity I had tonight while looking for my phone in helping people find hope and truth and life in Jesus?" Because there is nothing more rewarding and energizing than seeing the lost find their way home.

It is a huge relief to find something that's been lost.

It's a beautiful thing to go from being lost to being found.

Both are reason to rejoice.

"So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!" Luke 15:3-7

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Luke 15:8-10

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.  “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’  “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me,and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’” Luke 15:11-32