"LOST AND FOUND" EXPEDITION!

 

LOST AND FOUND DEPARTMENT

Have you ever lost something, and then, have to make a trip to the "Lost and Found" department of a business or park?  I certainly have---lots!

Hotel Del Coronado-lost Canon camera in California

Hiking stick in Shawnee National Forest in Illinois

Hiking stick in Redwoods National Forest in California

My iphone at Dead Horse State Park in Utah

Hiking stick at Buffalo National River in Arkansas

Branson Boat Ride-lost prescription sunglasses in Missouri

Life jacket at a Branson Water Park in Missouri

Special book of my husband's at Missouri airport

Winter cap that I lost while hiking in the Ozarks

Favorite sweater that I left at a restaurant somewhere Out West

Debit card provided by my medical insurance company

Monogrammed jacket that I left at a family member's home

Monogrammed Yeti travel mug that I left at a family members home(see below)

Lost car at a gigantic parking "field" at NASCAR track in Kansas

Purse and wallet that I left at an out of town home I was visiting

Lost my toddler's shoes, because I absent-mindedly hid them in the oven, when doing a quick clean up, for an unexpected visitor to my kitchen 

Lost my toddler's sneakers, when I accidentally left them at a cousin's house we were visiting (the funny thing about this incident, is that the very generous cousin returned them to my grandparent's house, stuffed with twenty dollar bills!)   Toddler's father joked, if we had known that was going to happen, we could have left his much larger cowboy boots, instead of tiny sneakers!)

Lost sunglasses that fell into the lake

Lost glove while scuba diving in Monterey Bay

Lost camera tripod

Lost homework that blew into the lake

Lost diamond ring at some still-unknown location

Travel mug that I left at a relative's house in California

Lost pearl ear ring down a sink at a hotel

Lost cloth diaper, accidentally flushed down the toilet (this was 50 years ago, when cloth diapers were still in use)

Flip phone that I left in car of a relative in California

Lost my car in a large parking lot, until a sympathetic stranger suggested hitting the panic button on the remote key to make the horn honk

Lost a twenty dollar bill out of my pocket while riding a two-person bicycle in Ponca, Arkansas

Lost an important reservation slip that blew out of my pocket while riding a motorcycle

Something that has helped me tremendously in finding lost items, is a tip given to me by a hard-core motorcycle rider, at a Christian Motorcycle Association meeting, over 30 years ago.  He shared with the group that he had just learned about "God's Telephone Number".  Of course, we were all intrigued to know what he meant.  He said another biker had told him about Jeremiah 33:3 that says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."  So, I started calling on God, asking Him to show me great and mighty things I did not know---like where the lost item was!!  And God answered those prayers so often, that I found I was praying very often about lost "things".  Then I was convicted about how often I was praying for lost "things", and how seldom I prayed for lost "people".  So I made a vow that every time I prayed to God about a lost item, I would also pray the name of a person I knew who was "lost", in that they had not accepted the forgiveness Jesus made available to them, through his death on the cross.   This magnet in my kitchen keeps the verse foremost in my mind:

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF LOSING THINGS!  However, sometimes losing something, is the only way to receive something better:

When you see this photo of a burned tree, do you think "all is lost" for the future of this forest?

Yet, did you know that without fire, this beautiful grove of sequoia trees would not be possible? 

That is because the tiny little seed of the sequoia tree ( as shown in photo below) will not germinate, unless there is fire!

And did you know that if a giant sequoia tree had not "given up its life", this massive sculpture of Paul Bunyon could not have been created?

One of the memory verses for my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) deals with the concept of "Lost and Found".  Matthew 10:39 says "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."   It is the New Testament version of a "Lost and Found" verse!

My history with the phrase "Lost and Found" caused me to stop and take a photograph,
of the sign I passed, outside a church I saw in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,  that said "Lost and Found" Church.   I "tongue in cheek" thought, "So THIS is where all those lost items can be found, that I have misplaced over a lifetime !  (Note:  OD stands for Ocean Drive, and not implying that this is an "odd church"!)

So even though I have lost many things, there is one "thing" it is good for me to lose---my tendency to want to control my life choices, versus allowing God to control my life choices.  When I choose the latter, it gives me "MILES OF SMILES" Tricia

Note: In our First Place 4 Health Bible study, called A Better Way, the translation used for Matthew 10:39 says, "If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it."  (NLT) However, with my career background being in Foods and Nutrition, every time I read that translation, my mind went down the thinking-about-food "rabbit hole" (see photo below).  Therefore, I looked for a different translation that did not have the word "cling" in it, and learned the Jeremiah Study Bible version.