The other day, as I prepared to drive down the hill for a baby-sitting gig with my granddaughter, I thought I could also take care of some routine business at the hospital later in the afternoon. My Doc had provided me with prescriptions, spit out of his printer on two 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of white paper.
Knowing I would need those two pieces of paper soon, I placed them in a prominent spot on the kitchen counter.
There, now I can grab them the next time I go down the hill.
I did not file those two sheets of paper.
I did not stuff them into my purse, where they'd get smushed by keys, wallet, checkbook and etc.
I did not place them on my desk, where they might get lost in my growing stack of scratch notes, business cards and rough drafts of my latest Work In Progress.
No!
I put those prescriptions where I could plainly see them.
On the kitchen counter.
So, this other day, when I looked at the kitchen counter, my two 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of white paper were simply. . . . gone.
The first thought that entered my brain: you must have put them in your purse.
I looked in my red purse. No. No prescriptions.
Second thought: maybe, in an absence of thought, you filed them away.
I looked in my file for health papers.
Not.
Rising annoyance made my mouth screw into an unattractive, prune-like mound.
I pulled out the kitchen garbage and gingerly fingered through wet, coffee-grounded junk mail, wet kleenex tissues, wet vegetable peelings. No prescriptions.
"Bruce! Could you please help me find those papers." I washed my hands in the kitchen sink. "They've got to be somewhere."
Bruce plodded up the stairs and did what any reasonable person would do; he looked in every place I'd already looked.
Then he pulled out the medical file.
"That's not my medical file."
"Well, it's the medical file I just started," Bruce countered. "Could it be in here?"
"Nah, it couldn't be. I didn't put them in there 'cause I didn't even know you made that file."
Bruce showed me some of the papers in the file. I saw everything but prescription papers.
I looked at my watch. No more time to look; I'd just have to make another trip down the hill at some later date to take care of my routine x-rays.
Annoyed and disappointed, I gathered up my things and hurried out to my car.
Later that day, when I returned, I pulled out Bruce's new medical file and thumbed through it again, just to make good and sure. Perhaps I'd missed something.
And, there those papers were, filed at the very back. My husband, God bless him, is a very organized person. (Of course, I wished he'd have told me he took those papers from the kitchen counter!)
I felt flooded with relief, that I didn't have to call the Doc's office and feel embarrassed when I told them I'd lost those papers and could I have another copy?
And relief, that I not crazy and I did not file papers and completely forget I'd done it
and . . .
Joy that my papers were restored and safely in my hands.
Holding those precious sheets of paper, I thought about Jesus's parable about the housewife who's lost a coin and cleans and sweeps her whole house until she finds it.
And the shepherd, who leaves the 99 sheep to look for that one, lost sheep. Then he rejoices when he finds the sheep.
I'd systematically searched each room, even rooms I didn't remember being in, to find those small pieces of paper. I looked everywhere. Those papers were important to me. I did not give up until I found them.
That's how passionately the Lord seeks and pursues you and I. He wants you. . . me. Just as I was willing to "tear the house apart" and even go through the kitichen garbage with my bare hands, God will go much, much further, to restore you to safety. That's how important you are to Him.
And He will not give up until you are safely in His hands.
Next time you lose something, think about how you feel when you can't find it.
Think about how you feel when you finally do find it.
Then think about how God must feel when He wants to find you.
And if He has found you, thank Him!
"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 15:9,10)
Knowing I would need those two pieces of paper soon, I placed them in a prominent spot on the kitchen counter.
There, now I can grab them the next time I go down the hill.
I did not file those two sheets of paper.
I did not stuff them into my purse, where they'd get smushed by keys, wallet, checkbook and etc.
I did not place them on my desk, where they might get lost in my growing stack of scratch notes, business cards and rough drafts of my latest Work In Progress.
No!
I put those prescriptions where I could plainly see them.
On the kitchen counter.
So, this other day, when I looked at the kitchen counter, my two 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of white paper were simply. . . . gone.
The first thought that entered my brain: you must have put them in your purse.
I looked in my red purse. No. No prescriptions.
Second thought: maybe, in an absence of thought, you filed them away.
I looked in my file for health papers.
Not.
Rising annoyance made my mouth screw into an unattractive, prune-like mound.
I pulled out the kitchen garbage and gingerly fingered through wet, coffee-grounded junk mail, wet kleenex tissues, wet vegetable peelings. No prescriptions.
"Bruce! Could you please help me find those papers." I washed my hands in the kitchen sink. "They've got to be somewhere."
Bruce plodded up the stairs and did what any reasonable person would do; he looked in every place I'd already looked.
Then he pulled out the medical file.
"That's not my medical file."
"Well, it's the medical file I just started," Bruce countered. "Could it be in here?"
"Nah, it couldn't be. I didn't put them in there 'cause I didn't even know you made that file."
Bruce showed me some of the papers in the file. I saw everything but prescription papers.
I looked at my watch. No more time to look; I'd just have to make another trip down the hill at some later date to take care of my routine x-rays.
Annoyed and disappointed, I gathered up my things and hurried out to my car.
Later that day, when I returned, I pulled out Bruce's new medical file and thumbed through it again, just to make good and sure. Perhaps I'd missed something.
And, there those papers were, filed at the very back. My husband, God bless him, is a very organized person. (Of course, I wished he'd have told me he took those papers from the kitchen counter!)
I felt flooded with relief, that I didn't have to call the Doc's office and feel embarrassed when I told them I'd lost those papers and could I have another copy?
And relief, that I not crazy and I did not file papers and completely forget I'd done it
and . . .
Joy that my papers were restored and safely in my hands.
Holding those precious sheets of paper, I thought about Jesus's parable about the housewife who's lost a coin and cleans and sweeps her whole house until she finds it.
And the shepherd, who leaves the 99 sheep to look for that one, lost sheep. Then he rejoices when he finds the sheep.
I'd systematically searched each room, even rooms I didn't remember being in, to find those small pieces of paper. I looked everywhere. Those papers were important to me. I did not give up until I found them.
That's how passionately the Lord seeks and pursues you and I. He wants you. . . me. Just as I was willing to "tear the house apart" and even go through the kitichen garbage with my bare hands, God will go much, much further, to restore you to safety. That's how important you are to Him.
And He will not give up until you are safely in His hands.
Next time you lose something, think about how you feel when you can't find it.
Think about how you feel when you finally do find it.
Then think about how God must feel when He wants to find you.
And if He has found you, thank Him!
"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 15:9,10)
Oh, Dina, I can't tell you how many times I've had this happen to me! I'm still looking for a magnifying glass that's gone missing.
ReplyDeleteI love this analogy. Every now and then, the Lord gives me a glimpse into His heart and how much He loves me.
Blessings,
Susan :)
Yep, Susan, same here. Can't find those kitchen scissors to save my life!
ReplyDelete