Lost And Found

A couple of weeks ago, I lost my wallet.  It had been in my purse but when I went to get money out of the wallet, it was not there.  All of my information was in that wallet:  My money, credit cards, driver’s license, my Insurance cards, etc. 

I went to find Butch to find the wallet.  We started to look where we had been.  Then we went to the security office and they asked a lot of questions, such as where did we walk to, did we sit anywhere, when did you have the wallet in your hand.  I don’t know.  We gave them all of our information. 

Butch and I retraced our steps.  I was scared.  And then, I went to my Higher Power.  I calmed down.  We decided to go home to get on the phone to cancel credit cards, and my Social Security card.  Butch said we should look one more place.  OK.

We got there and we went all around the area.  There were people sitting close to where we had sat earlier.  They were laughing and laughing.  Butch asked them if they saw a small black wallet around them.  No!  I was looking up, to the right, and to the left, but it was not there. Down on the floor, the carpet was dark but so was the wallet, so I went to my knees.  I used my fingers, I felt something move, and I picked up my wallet. 

Thank You God. 

It was just a wallet and I cried over it.  And when we found it we were so happy and felt it was a blessing.  On the way home, the words I heard: It is like playing “Hide and Seek.” Then I thought:  No, this was different.  I know.  It was “Lost and Found!”  

And the next day I needed to start a blog.

We all have struggled when we have lost things: I have a lot of loss in my life.  I promise not to tell all of them.  I have lost people:  Some family, great friends, coworkers and church people and more is what we sometimes call a loss. But I don’t think that.  When I stop crying, I realize they are in an awesome place. There are other losses: dogs, cats and there are lots animals we have had in our lives, we miss them. We cry.

I cried for a wallet, memory loss, pieces of brain.  In the past, I missed a coworker who went to Florida to live. We would mail back and forth and then we slowed and we stopped sending. I was looking in the back of my dresser and found a mail from 40 years.  I called to talk, no phone.

This is a time we can think about our losses. There are all different kinds of loss:  hair, body parts, jobs, money, taste, cell phone, car, weight, mind, keys, books, furniture, love one, Innocence, hearing, personal Items, sight, smell and we can go on and on.  Sometimes we know that we will never find what we lost and sometimes we can find the item.  

Last Friday morning I was in quiet time with God. I asked God for power and strength for His words, His letters and His thoughts and put them in my brain to help those who have lost and cannot find it.  I believe I need to remember that my will has to go away and be replaced with God’s will.  As I listened, I heard the words, “lost sheep.”

Matthew 18:10-14

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

¹¹For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

¹²How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and seek that which is gone astray?

¹³And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoice more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

¹⁴Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Sometimes we find what we lost. We are so happy and we share our joy with our family members, friends and to any one that wants to rejoice with us.  Yeah, a wallet! 

Two and half years ago, I was praying at the front of the church and I asked the congregation to pray the Lord’s Prayer with me.  I finished, “on earth as it is in heaven,” and I stopped and froze.  I lost my words.  Thankfully a friend picked up the prayer and she finished.  After the service I went to the pastor and told him I would not speak on the altar again unless I would have the words on paper in front of me.  

Loss of words, words that do not make any sense, words that make sense yet I can’t get the letters in the right way in my mind. I was told by a doctor that I had Dementia of some sort. Loss. Loss all around! I was Lost!!  OK. Whatever!  Deal with it.  Yep!

I was Lost!!! 

Doctor Hough came into my life. In a year with tests and checkups, when they were finished they sent mail to us to come in for the diagnosis.  They told us that I had Alzheimer’s Disease and I stopped talking and started listening to the doctor, my husband, my sister and the nurse. The Doctor asked me if I was hearing what he was saying to me. Yes!  We went home, there was sadness, there was crying at times, praying to Christ and God, wanting to know what will be done and when. There was no laughter.  I was Lost!!! 

It took three days and when I woke up I heard, “Sara, you are alive. You have things to do. Let’s Go.”  After a about a month, I asked the Pastor if I could bring the Sunday message in front of the congregation, and he said yes.  That morning I prayed in my bed, prayed by my bed, knees on the floor, had breakfast, went early to the church, opened it up and went straight to the front of the Sanctuary down on my knees asking:  “God, please, not my words, your words.”  When I started to talk, I started to cry and I kept talking anyway and I started to smile and the words kept flowing out of my mouth.  There was crying on and off, there were tears from sadness and tears from laughter.  When the service was finished one of our members hugged me and said, “Sara, you never lost a word.”

I am not lost any more.  I am finding that no matter what changes in my life it has a reason.

In Midland, Michigan, there was a fire in our church, Community of Christ. The building had a lot of things that were priceless, some were thrown out and we had lots of loss. Some we could keep. The inside of the building was getting old, like me. When the inside is finished it will be wonderful. We will start to bring in what we need.  What will we bring to the building?  What do we bring to God. We are the Church. What did I lose? What will I bring in? We will find it with God. He found me. 

He. Found. Me.

Now I will go out on the path to help others to be found.