Lost and Found

Tonight at church I read a couple of articles from my new book. It was singspiration night, and readings were welcome as well. One of the stories I read was about the day last summer when I spotted a lost child at Walmart and helped her find her grandmother. I was surprised how it touched a chord in some of the listeners.

After I sat down, our facilitator said that it had reminded her of a time when she was left behind at a church convention as a child, each parent thinking she had gone with the other to meet up with friends for refreshments after the service. She had stood panic-stricken and crying, until a minister and his wife noticed her and kept tabs on her until her parents could be notified of her whereabouts.

Then an 83-year-old singer prefaced her song with remarks of the time she was lost as a six-year-old. Having been raised in relative isolation deep in the woods of the Osage hills, the shy child and her family had moved closer to town when she started school. One day during their lunch break, she had walked with her sister and other classmates to a dime store in the small town. Somehow she got separated from them and realized she didn't know where she was. Terrified at not knowing anyone, she sobbed her heart out as she walked aimlessly down the street.

Suddenly a big boy on roller skates passed by, then turned and said, "What's the matter, little girl?" Being afraid of strangers, yet desperate, she answered, "I'm lost!"

"Well, where are you trying to get to?" he asked, to which she exclaimed, "To school!"

"Just follow me,and I'll get you there," he directed, and although hesitant, she was more afraid not to go with him. She followed behind as he skated ahead, then when she spotted the school, the relieved youngster struck out running toward  the brick building that looked like a haven of safety.

"I didn't even think to thank the poor boy," the bemused lady said, shaking her head.

Well, getting left behind or separated from friends and family happens to the best of us. Even Jesus. The poignant story in the Bible gives rise to imaginative scenarios. My husband and I sang a song about one such scenario at Wednesday night church last week. It has the boy Jesus answering questions of the doctors and lawyers in a duet called "On My Father's Side."

I even wrote a story about this several years ago. In it I said that Jesus was lost. But of course, He wasn't really lost, it was His parents who lost track of Him. He knew exactly where He was, and it was about the Father's business.

Who knows? Perhaps the little girl led back to school by a boy on roller skates was actually being led by her guardian angel! God always knows where we are, and His main concern is that we not be eternally lost. That is why He sent His Son.