Lost and Found

I'm calling 2011 my year of Lost.....and Found.
I lost my very expensive Nikon camera. 
My grandmother passed away.
I lost a guy I was dating... well, I guess technically I didn't "lose" him, he walked away from our relationship (By the way, it was one of the best things to happen to me) 
I lost my wallet at an airport in Kansas City.
I lost a bag of jewelry that contained several expensive pieces.
I lost my wireless Internet access card.

It seemed like every time I turned around, I was losing something or someone. Someone said, well of course you're losing things, you're so busy. I thought, that might be partially true, but I knew that something (or better yet, SOMEONE) else was at work here.

Eventually, I started feeling defeated, uninspired, and quite honestly, I was worried about my mental health. I didn't feel like myself. After the last "loss", I literally cried out to God in my hotel room, praying and asking HIM for guidance, begging Him to intervene.

What I didn't realize was that He had been trying to intervene, but I was too caught up in mourning WHAT I had lost that I sometimes missed the message in the lost. I held up the mirror and looked at my life over the past few months. When I did I realized that, yes I had lost some valuables things, but what I've found this year is much more valuable. 

• I found a deeper relationship with Christ. My relationship with Him is number 1 and He will never walk away from me.
• I found a greater love for myself. God has loved me so hard this year, even when I didn't love myself, He loved me, and I've grown so much in the way I see myself.
• I found a passion (writing), that centers me and one I hope to use to help other people.
• I found the motivation to live a healthier life (I lost 30 pounds, and work out 4-5 days a week, and no longer have to take high blood pressure medicine)
• I found a renewed faith in God.
• I found the joy of knowing firsthand that God's plan is perfect and that my steps are ordered by Him.
• I found my way back to the heart of worship.

There are two more months in 2011 and I'm looking forward to more findings. Stay Tuned!

Romans 12:1-2

Deuteronomy 13:4

1 Peter 5:8-11

Thanks for the Reminder...

Isn't it strange how God will send a perfect stranger to remind you  of your blessings.  That's what happened to me last week.   I had boarded a flight headed to Missouri to spend time with my family.  After I took my seat, an older gentleman sat down in my row.  At first, he seemed like a bit of a curmudgeon.  He tossed his things on his seat and almost through his bag into the overhead bin an plopped down into his seat without saying a word.   He looked to be in his 60's...attractive, African-American, not necessarily distinguished looking, but he was the type of guy you see and you just know there's way more to him that what you see on the outside.  

Anyway, he takes the aisle seat leaving the middle seat open.  I was quickly trying to respond to email on my Ipad before they closed the airplane doors and made us turn our phones off.  He struck up a conversation with me about my arsenal of electronic gadgets.   I explained to him what everything was, then I asked him if he had an IPad.  He replied that he was still using a flip phone and would probably never move into the new age of technology.  We both laughed.

He told me he lives in Detroit but was traveling to Phoenix to spend time at a home he has there.  We talked about Detroit (I had just come back from there) and about my home, Nebraska.

Shortly after our  middle seat occupant boarded, the flight took off.  After a few minutes, the guy took out a newspaper and began reading it.  Middle seat got up to use the bathroom, and I took out my laptop to do more work.  Admittedly, I was frustrated because it was my birthday and all I wanted to do was relax on the flight, but I still had work to do. 

The guy looks over at me, "You're at it again huh?", he says.
"Yeh, unfortunately I have work to do," I say with a slight frown. 
"Oh yeah?" he replies, leaning over as if he was showing me something in the paper.  "I'll show you some unemployment figures that will make you glad you have work to do!" 

We both laughed (me more out of embarrassment than anything else), then he went back to reading the paper.
Trying not to appear ungrateful, I quickly said to him, "You see, it's my birthday and I just wish I didn't have to work on my birthday."
"Oh, Happy Birthday!  Well, I can understand not wanting to work on your birthday," he says.  Trying to appease.

Then I turned to him and said, "You're right though, thanks for the reminder."
He smiled and went back to reading his newspaper.

He WAS right!  How many times have I complained about my job and all of the work I have to do or how busy I am? It was like a lightbulb turned on in my head when he said that to me.  I decided right then to be grateful for my work/job at all times...no matter how tired I am or how frustrating it becomes.  I am blessed with something many people in our country have lost and can not find. How dare I speak about work as misfortune?

Later in the flight, middle seat and the guy strike up a conversation.  I overheard him telling her that he has worked as a dentist for over 40 years.   I imagined how hard he must have worked to get to get to a point where he could enjoy a vacation home in another city.  I also imagined how much life experience he must have and how many recessions or downed economies he's been through.  It was yet another reminder...this one about how important it is to put in effort and invest in my future.

I left the flight changed by my conversation with that man and I didn't even get his name.  I didn't need it, I received just what I needed in that moment, a REMINDER of God's grace and mercy.  That was the best birthday present I could ask for.