Country Roads

 

August 19, 2021



Losing something becomes more common the older a person gets. Losing one’s cell phone or reading glasses becomes a weekly or sometimes daily happening. It’s getting to where I would like to drop the word “losing,” and start using the word “misplaced.” Eventually the item which mysteriously disappeared turns up. It may be found within minutes, hours, days or even longer. Sometimes finding the lost humbles one’s self, like locating the glasses on top of your head.

There are those times when the worst happens, like the panicky time when a child is missing. It happens to the best parents in the world. Though every precaution is taken, it somehow still occurs. Recently parents shared their story about the time when they had a van load of children visiting a place of interest. When it came time to leave, the van was quickly loaded. After the parents were on the road, they took a head count and found one of their children had been left behind. Thankfully, they hurried back praying they would quickly find their missing child. They met the child running down the road towards them.

I remember my father telling the story about his father taking a wagon load of his children into Scandia to do trading. My granny decided to remain at home with the youngest child. When Grandfather reached town, he let the older children out of the wagon and he went about with his trading. When it came time to go home, the children were loaded into the wagon and off they went. About halfway home, the children noticed one of their siblings was not on board. Grandfather turned the wagon around and hurried back to town. He found his child calmly sitting on the porch steps where the wagon had been parked earlier.

Many years ago, my husband and I had taken our sons, along with friends and their children, on a museum tour. Of course the children hurried from place to place much faster than the adults. It was decided the older children would keep a steady eye on the younger ones if they got ahead of the adults. Soon the adults caught up with the children. One of the younger children was missing. The older ones of course said they thought the younger ones had been right with them all the time. Everyone began to panic. We divided into groups and began our search. After looking throughout the museum not finding the missing little one, the panic alarm went even higher. Then my husband returned with the missing child. He said the child had gotten lost. After not being able to find the others, the child decided to return to the vehicle he had come in. He was found calmly seated on the car’s fender waiting to be found. We all rejoiced. The lost was found.

The movie of years ago, Home Alone told the story of the family who took a vacation trip together. One of the children was left at home, while the others loaded onto the van that transported them to the airport. The mother noted her son was missing after the plane had taken off. They went through all sorts of mishaps trying to get back home. The son who remained at home, made the best of the situation and got through some trying times. In the end, the mother and relatives made it home to find the child safe.

In today’s society it is much scarier when a child turns up missing. Thankfully, these instances shared turned out with happy endings. It is a parent’s worst nightmare. No matter how good a parent or guardian may be, it can happen - especially when there are many distractions.

This week in our adult Sunday School Class, we reviewed the story in Luke 2: 41-52 when Jesus, as a 12-year-old, came up missing after his parents left Jerusalem to return home. The parents had traveled for a day before noticing their son was not with them and the others. They returned to Jerusalem and after three days of searching found him, visiting and with the teachers in the temple court. Think of what went through Joseph and Mary’s mind at that time.

 

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