What Was Lost
Twoweeks ago, when I was taking my walk, I found a cell phone on the ground on theside of our road. I picked it up and quickly discovered that it was locked. Ilooked up and down the road as if the person who dropped it would still be insight. I debated a moment, then decided I needed to take it home, get it out ofthe elements, and try to track down its owner.
Icalled or texted the people I know who live along our road, but it didn’tbelong to any of them. I called the local radio station and asked that they putit on the air. Later that day, when I hadn’t gotten any response, I posted iton my Facebook page.
Ithought about turning it in to the sheriff’s department but figured they musthave better things to do. Then I remembered what a crime-ridden county I livein – not.
Anyway,I left the phone on the dining room table and went to bed that night, hoping itwould somehow find its way home.
Hubbyand I never set an alarm to wake us up in the morning. We both have prettyaccurate clocks in our heads. If I have to be up at a specific time, I tellmyself to wake myself up at that time, and it works 95% of the time. My one andonly superpower.
Andon the off chance my brain didn’t listen to me the night before, we have anannoying cat who wakes us up crying and walking over our heads around fourevery morning, 365 days of the year.
Forsome reason, for the first time in her three years of life, she didn’t wake usup the next day. Instead, at five a.m., we were awakened by music coming fromthe dining room. The alarm on the lost cellphone was going off!
Whatwere the chances the one morning that our brains fail us, the cat sleeps in,and Hubby needs to get up at five for work, that someone else’s alarm wakes usup?
Thefollowing morning, I still had the phone, and its alarm still went off at fivea.m. But we had already gotten ourselves out of bed. I did, however, feel badthat somewhere out there was someone who might have slept in two mornings in arow.
Icalled our sheriff’s department later that morning. I told them about the phoneand that I could drop it off in their lost and found that afternoon. Instead, afriendly officer came by our house ten minutes later and picked it up. Heseemed confident that they could find its home, even though the battery wasdead by then.
“Or take another illustration: A woman hasten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and look inevery corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it?And then won’t she call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her? Inthe same way there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinnerrepents.” (Luke 15:8-10, Living Bible)
Ihope whoever lost that cell phone had it returned, and he or she was able torejoice.
