"I Was Lost.....But Now I'm Found"
I was always a strong-willed child growing up. My father routinely called me the "rebellious one" in the family......which I, of course, adamantly disagreed with him on. But I did have a habit of wandering off on my own.....not thinking too much of the consequences.....and finding myself alone and in a heap of trouble many (most) times.
Once while visiting my Grandma-In-The-Woods (that's what we called her) in the forests of Alabama, I eagerly volunteered to walk the 1/2 mile down the old country road to collect the mail for her. As I arrived at the mailbox, I noticed there were 3 different roads that all intersected together I hadn't observed before. I immediately felt drawn to check out what was down one of these other roads. I explored for awhile and soon headed back to the mailbox intersection, but when I got back to the intersection, I couldn't remember which road was Grandma's. I remember standing there for a few long minutes; looking at all 3 intersecting roads, feeling the terror in my stomach of a lost and confused 7 year old, and although I can't remember exactly how I chose the road I chose; most likely "Eenie-Meenie-Minie-Moe", I chose the "wrong" road. I walked for what seemed like hours and nothing looked familiar. Tears are now pouring....no....GUSHING....out of my eyes and I can still, 46 years later, remember the fear of being alone....Lost.
I finally came upon an old house and while sobbing, scared and praying desperately that they were nice people, I headed up the steps to the front door. I'll never forget the relief of seeing a nice lady open the door, taking me by the hand and between my sobs, determining who I belonged to. She called Grandma-In-The-Woods and my Dad quickly came and retrieved his strong-willed, rebellious child; hugging and wrapping me in his big loving arms and carrying me back home......never once scolding me for wandering off.....just relieved to have this curious child of his back.
This week's scripture reminded me of that time many years ago. "Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers." (Matt. 18:12-14).
I was always a strong-willed child growing up. My father routinely called me the "rebellious one" in the family......which I, of course, adamantly disagreed with him on. But I did have a habit of wandering off on my own.....not thinking too much of the consequences.....and finding myself alone and in a heap of trouble many (most) times.
Once while visiting my Grandma-In-The-Woods (that's what we called her) in the forests of Alabama, I eagerly volunteered to walk the 1/2 mile down the old country road to collect the mail for her. As I arrived at the mailbox, I noticed there were 3 different roads that all intersected together I hadn't observed before. I immediately felt drawn to check out what was down one of these other roads. I explored for awhile and soon headed back to the mailbox intersection, but when I got back to the intersection, I couldn't remember which road was Grandma's. I remember standing there for a few long minutes; looking at all 3 intersecting roads, feeling the terror in my stomach of a lost and confused 7 year old, and although I can't remember exactly how I chose the road I chose; most likely "Eenie-Meenie-Minie-Moe", I chose the "wrong" road. I walked for what seemed like hours and nothing looked familiar. Tears are now pouring....no....GUSHING....out of my eyes and I can still, 46 years later, remember the fear of being alone....Lost.
I finally came upon an old house and while sobbing, scared and praying desperately that they were nice people, I headed up the steps to the front door. I'll never forget the relief of seeing a nice lady open the door, taking me by the hand and between my sobs, determining who I belonged to. She called Grandma-In-The-Woods and my Dad quickly came and retrieved his strong-willed, rebellious child; hugging and wrapping me in his big loving arms and carrying me back home......never once scolding me for wandering off.....just relieved to have this curious child of his back.
This week's scripture reminded me of that time many years ago. "Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers." (Matt. 18:12-14).
I was that lost sheep......alone....scared.....unable to find my way back to my Shepherd.....
In more ways than one.
In more ways than one.
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