Thoughtful Thursday

Look What I Found!

Recently, my husband and I had misplaced a very important document. We searched all over the house, but could not find it anywhere! Then, we thought that we may have taken a picture of it, or emailed it to ourselves. Perhaps, we had sent a copy to someone in a text or message. We checked all our electronic devices, to no avail. I went through my desk three or four times. It was not there. We were starting to panic, because we would need this document very soon.

We had been remodeling, so many boxes, tubs, small furniture pieces had been banished to our upstairs area, with the thought that we would go through these things at a later date. So, I traipsed upstairs, opened the bedroom door, and stared in dismay as I saw, what I thought was an insurmountable task ahead of me. I began by deciding what could be thrown away. Then I decided to check drawers…dresser drawers, chest drawers, end table drawers…even drawers in a baker’s rack, which we would probably end up getting rid of. It was in one of these drawers that I found it! Oh…not the document that I was looking for, but something else that was a treasure.

I reached in and took out a single, worn sheet of paper. It was yellowed with age, coffee stains were still visible on it, and I immediately recognized my own handwriting. The spacing of the words let me know that it was a poem that I had written a long time ago. As I read the words, I couldn’t help but smile. They brought back such a sweet memory of a time that I was teaching small children in Vacation Bible School at our church. As an activity, the children were going to place their hands into a cement mold, write their name and the year, and their parents would have a keepsake for years to come. I wrote this poem, and I had planned to frame it to accompany each child’s handprint.

My Handprint

Today, I went to Bible School;
It was a lot of fun!
We ate, we laughed, we sang and played,
And I learned about God’s son.

I made a little handprint,
‘Cause there’s no one else like me.
I’ll hold on tight to Jesus, 
And I want the world to see!

If Jesus doesn’t hold your hand,
Then now’s the time to start!
Give Jesus more than just your hand,
Give Him all your heart!

I was so excited to find this long lost memory! I decided to go downstairs and type it on my iPad, so I could preserve it digitally. As I was walking down the stairs, it occurred to me that I had gotten sidetracked. This was not what I was looking for at all. I whispered a prayer as I descended each step. “Lord, please let me find what we’re looking for. It’s important to us!” 

I reached the bottom of the stairs. I placed my precious poem on the table, to be dealt with later on. I needed to get back to the task at hand. I glanced over at my desk…the one I’d looked through several times already. On top of the desk, was a tray where we had placed various projects, such as mail that we didn’t want to throw away, writing projects that I was working on, tax papers, notebooks, or just a conglomeration of random papers. I had gone through that tray a couple of times. I decided to “clean it up,” and at least organize the tax papers in a drawer. As I was removing items piece by piece, I came across a manilla envelope. It was face down, and when I turned it over…VOILA! THERE IT WAS! 

 I had just prayed to God that we would find it, and there it was! This fact was not lost on me. God is faithful; He’s true; and He’s on time! The book of Luke tells a similar story in the parable of the lost coin.

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins, and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully, until she finds it?

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 15:8-10

On this day, not only did I find my lost document, I found another treasure which I will always hold dear. This served to remind me that  God provides; He hears our prayers; and God is good…all the time!

Friends, if you are lost, remember that Jesus loves you. You can repent and come to Him. There will be much rejoicing in the presence of angels! I don’t think that I found this poem by accident. The words were meant for little children, but they can apply to anyone who is willing to turn around and follow Jesus.

“If Jesus doesn’t hold your hand,
Then, now’s the time to start.
Give Jesus more than just your hand;
Give Him all your heart.”

Have a great Thursday!