Where do I begin??? Well, let's start with me sitting down going through my inbox last night after enjoying a meal out with my family. I noticed one with the subject, "YOUR CELL PHONE" and thought maybe it deserved attention. I read it and was extremely puzzled - it was from a woman that I did a family photo shoot for earlier in the day - she said that someone had my cell phone and was trying to find out who it belonged to. Honestly, I've lost my phone to toddlers and the furniture several times, but did I really lose my phone THIS time?? Tim and I could not find it after calling it a few times, so decided it must have really disappeared - but where/how? It's not like we live somewhere that I need to lock my doors to my vehicle in the driveway for fear of theft. The last time I used it was on the way home from the photo session calling Tim. I just thought I left it in the van and it must have somehow fallen out along the way from our house to the restaurant - but where and how??? Then I was talking to a friend (thanks Heather T.) on facebook who was helping me piece the puzzle together. She asked if I had left it on top of the van. Seriously????? who does something that dumb??? Try someone who is so obsessed with "capturing the moment" with her camera that the moment she pulls into the driveway she has to bust out the camera to capture another moment that she doesn't MAKE time to put the phone in a SAFE place. After reading Heather's comment, the hair on my arms stuck straight up - I seriuosly believe God was using her to speak to me - slow down!!! I then realized the phone must have sat on my hood near the windshield until we turned a corner fast enough (on the way out of our sub near my sister in law's church). So, a woman that works at my sister in law's church (who I need to find and thank) found my phone on the street and brought it on Sunday. After thumbing through my contact list, she assumed it belonged to someone in my sister in law's family. Tim made one final call this am after getting home from church from his phone to mine in hopes that the person with my phone would answer and my brother in law answered!!! Less than a minute from getting off the phone with him, my phone was safe in my hands :) God had a few lessons in mind for me:
1. Do not COVET - I was just saying how cool it w/b to have a phone like the iPhone that you can store tons of info, pix, music, etc. in - I could have been out more than a list of phone numbers.
2. HIS timing is PERFECT - my phone was lost on a weekend when I get free minutes and also placed into the hands of a kind woman (who has no idea how indebted i am to her). I also lost my phone while on a monthy contract - not in the middle of a year contract like I could have been a few months ago and to think of having to break a contract!!!
3. Put God first - I need to find a good balance of first serving my God and then find a good balance between family, friends, volunteering, hobbies, etc.
The funny thing is usually I would feel extremely helpless in a situation like this - I realized I could hand over this situation to the Lord and seek His will - maybe I would get my phone back unharmed or maybe it would have been damaged with several expensive calls racked up on it, or maybe I would have to go w/out a phone until we could cancel the service and get a new subscriber. Just as I was about to give up all hope after calling it several times last night and this am - my brother in law answers my phone!!! I realize this is kind of a trivial example and not really high on the priority list, such as parents with sick children or who have lost children or any other desparate/desolate situation, but.........do you think that's how our Savior feels with us sometimes? Just as He's about ready to lose all hope in what He's created, we serve/praise/worship/call on Him??? God never gives up on what He has created - that's an awesome thought for the day!
