Finding Lost Things

     Here is my next Ebenezer stone, and we have many of these. I say "we" for I have to include my family on this, because they are gathering their own stones on this particular topic.
     We lose things. We lose a lot of things. Toys. Keys. Cell phones. Nintendo DS's. Library books. Food. Files. Jump drives. IRS tax documents. Resumes. Buttons. Bills. Glasses. Tweezers. Passwords. Bug spray. I frequently leave that somewhere. Oh, and toe nail clippers. Don't forget those. You name it. We've probably lost it.
    Quite a few years ago, however, we got into the habit of praying to find things. It probably started out of desperation over the fear of astronomical library late fees, but regardless, pray we did. We would ask Jesus to please help us remember where _____ was, and thank Him ahead of time for helping to show us or bring it to our memory. "If you have faith like a child..." You know?
     I always thought it was really cool that our subconscious minds purportedly remember everything, including all our senses, from every moment of our lives. So, if something is lost, simply because our conscious minds happen to "forget" where it is, then theoretically somewhere in that lovely subconscious is the object, immortalized and standing there, right under our proverbial souls' nose, if you will...That delighted me, and so employing my child-like faith, I delight to ask Our Father where the object is. How He shows us is sometimes very funny. I love irony, and I do believe God employs that majestically in these cases as well.

     My husband and children employ the strategy, with great results. I love to hear about the items found. The jump drive remembered. The DS, suddenly discovered after weeks of being lost, turns up in the trunk of the car and Mario *Jack* Andretti Cart is once again gleefully played. Lost allowance was the latest refound item: after almost 2 days of not being able to find a months' worth of allowance, and praying to find it, our daughter discovered her little pink key chain change keeper, attached to her sandals in our entry way closet, of all places, while she was looking for sandals. Who would have thought? We give thanks to Christ, for all the little things, because those little things add up to a big faith when one takes stock of all the times He has cared for even the tiniest of needs.
   
     So, I have to share my favorite lost and found story, because it is just the most comical and the longest item lost. I can't say that I didn't give up hope we would ever find this.
     It's the story of the lost library book.
     Being home schoolers, we rely heavily on the county library system. We are quite the regulars, are familiar with the library workers, and love to inter-library loan. I can find all sorts of gems through the electronic card catalog, and we enjoy utilizing it to fulfill reading lists.
     Hence, a notorious book was lost. Can't remember the name, but it was nonfiction, to explore some historical aspect of the curriculum we were studying. It was discovered to be lost, however, on the due date, even though I swore I collected all the books (even counting them to compare to the number online that the library said I had checked out), and could have been sure I turned it in with the others days before.
     So, I did what any sane person in that predicament would do. I "checked it out" again, by renewing it online. Simple click of a button, and there you have it: 3 more weeks time are bought, and you hope you find it in the mean time.
     But something in the back of my head nagged me, that I had turned it in, along with all the other books, originally. Anyhow, I prayed and searched for the book, and waited.
     The book did not show up. I repeated this process for almost 6 months, growing more frustrated and more frustrated. I begged the kids to find it. I scoured the house. I tried to bribe them with money. I tried everything, including searching obscure ridiculous locations everywhere, for the lost nonfiction juvenile book. All to no avail.
     Eventually I gave up the hunt, and asked how much it would cost to pay the lost item fee. It was definitely not ideal, but that book was not showing up, so I figured it was time to face the music.
     It was during my last round of "renewing" the book online, that the children and I were in a small town on the other side of the county that we used to frequent when we lived on that side of town. While we were there, we decided to go back and visit our old library and see one of our favorite librarians who had always been so kind. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to check out a few books, notorious late book loser that I was.
     We saw the librarian and enjoyed catching up, then began to peruse the books. Our boys love comic book collections, so we went into the adult book section and walking leisurely around when behold, a book was sticking out of a shelf obtrusively. I will put it this way: if my hair had been in my face like it so often is, I could have run into it at eye level. I stopped to peer at the book and then adjust it back onto the shelf, and discovered shockingly that it was the famous book. The long lost book. There it was, shelved incorrectly at the library across town from the library it was obtained from, and just as ill-placed as it could be. Directly in front of me.
     I burst out laughing. Almost a belly laugh. I turned it over and over, and held it up in the air like the Holy Grail. I called the boys to come over and see, that yes indeed, it was the correct book. Gathering them and the baby at the time, we marched triumphantly over to the desk, and politely asked if we could check on the book's status. The librarian obliged and commented that it was still checked out, and I immediately said I would like to check it back in, barely containing the hilarity. I could not help but wonder aloud how that could have all happened, but gathering from speculation, we surmised that someone must have thought they checked the book in and was mistaken. That it was still placed on the shelf, in the wrong library no less, but I just happened to choose to visit that day, was epic.
     At that point, I didn't really care for vindication or anything; I was just glad to see it come and very shortly go. The irony was exceedingly amusing: I couldn't believe that of all places, it was actually back at a library, all that time. The great book hunt was over. I was cleared, and I apologized to the kids for harassing them to find a book that was not in our possession.
     I have probably lost things and not been able to find them, but for the life of me I can't recall anything of significance.
     The experience of almost 6 months of the case of the missing library book taught me that no matter how lost something is, God can make it show up, to the right person at the right time, in unbelievable ways. He is simply amazing. He cares about even the smallest of things. I won't ever forget, and if I do, I hope and pray the boys will remind me. We still giggle about it because we have an inconvenient experience over book returns, that in the end, still makes us pause to glorify God Himself. I like to think that He was setting that book apart for the work He had planned, to simply bring me to consider. If He would go to that much trouble to help me find a library book, how much does that demonstrate the vastness of Our Father's love?