JOYFUL WORDS
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Hospitality
  • About Sheri

Just a Little Lost

6/26/2014

1 Comment

 
Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.  Malachi 3:7

Did you ever lose something important?  It can be a real pain in the neck to stop everything and look for something we misplace.  Maybe for you it’s your phone, keys or shoes, for me it’s my glasses.  I’m at that lovely age where I need reading glasses. In an attempt not to waste time looking for them, I’ve purchased 5 or 6 pair from the dollar store and have them strategically placed all over the house, good plan right…not so much!  I still spend too many minutes retracing my steps and trying to find a pair when I need them.  I was looking for a pair the other day and I remembered the three things my dad used to say when we lost something.  Sometimes he would say, “Good grief child, you’d lose your head if it wasn’t screwed on to your shoulders!”  If he didn’t say that, then he would offer the following helpful tidbit, “Well, I don’t know where it is but I know you’ll find it in the last place you look!” The last really helpful thing he would say was, “Humm, I can’t imagine what happened to it since you put it right back in the proper place it came from!”  I can laugh now, but when I was a little girl I didn’t find much humor in his wisdom.

Lost stuff is one thing, lost souls are quite another.  When Jason was little, he was shopping with me and while I was busy looking at a stuffed rack of winter coats, he crawled inside one of the circular clothing racks and hid.  I panicked when I couldn’t find him.  After a few short seconds of frantically calling his name my racing heart slowed  a little when he peeked his little chubby cheeks through the clothes and screamed “I’m right here mom!” I’ll never forget that feeling and the hug that came right before the scolding was the best hug ever!  I went through a time this spring where I felt a little lost.  I was continuing my daily prayer but I just felt like God wasn’t as close as he usually was.  I felt like I was drifting away and I just couldn’t find my way back.  I know it’s not uncommon for people to go through periods of dryness in their prayer life but I sure didn’t like it.  When things were most difficult the evil one was trying to convince me God had abandoned me I began to pray that God would find me and bring me back and close the gap I felt between us.  That was my prayer for several weeks and on the darkest day, I read these words from the Prophet Malachi, return to me, that I may return to you.

Once those words were stuck in my head and my heart I began to realize God hadn’t gone anywhere!  He is the fixed object in this relationship…I am the variable.  In order for him to come to me, I had to go to him.  I had been seeking the good feeling of his presence, I wanted his blessing and his grace but I wasn’t seeking his presence.  I wanted a big heap of me and my happy blessed life with a side of God…he wanted it the other way around.  I wondered why he wasn’t answering my prayers and bringing me comfort and peace; he was just frantically calling my name trying to bring me back home to his plan.  I was uncomfortable because I wasn’t where he was asking me to be.  He wanted more of my time, my heart and my trust.  He wanted me to return to him so he could return to me.  When I was trying to find my way and figure out what I needed to change, scripture tells me that all the while, he was frantically calling my name and searching, much like the day I lost Jason and he rejoiced greatly when I returned. The day I got it figured out was a great day and that is exactly the day I remembered the story of a lost Jason.  I have no doubt he popped that story into my head just to prove a point and I’ve never felt so loved!  I guess my dad’s wisdom was right.  He was the last place I looked, and it’s amazing how easy it is to find things when they are in their proper place…God first not me first!

A Seed To Plant:  If you happen to be feeling a little distant from God, ask him to woo you back then have the courage to return with your whole heart.

Blessings on your day!

1 Comment
Student #13 :)
6/30/2014 11:43:55 am

Love this post! Just what I needed to read today!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Joyful Words magnet picture

    ​Click on the items below to expand the options available to you to explore the Joyful Words blog.

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinthians
    1 John
    1 Thessalonians
    2 Corinthians
    Acts Of Love
    Advent
    Ageing
    All In
    Amazing
    Anxiety
    Armor Of God
    Asking For Help
    Bad Habits
    Balance
    Baptism
    Be
    Beauty
    Being Gracious
    Blessed Mother Teresa Of Calcutta
    Blessing
    Blessings
    Brokenness
    Carry Our Cross
    Catholic Education
    Change
    Changes
    Cheerfulness
    Children
    Choices
    Christian Belief
    Christmas
    Colossians
    Commitment
    Comparisons
    Compassion
    Consistent
    Content
    Contentment
    Courage
    Crosses
    Crumbs
    Dad
    Daughters Of God
    Delight
    Desire
    Desire God
    Details
    Dicipleship
    Die To Self
    Discipleship
    Dissapointment
    Dying To Self
    Easter
    Ecclesiastes
    Education
    Election
    Encouragement
    Enemy
    Ephesians
    Evangelization
    Exodus
    Expectations
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    Falling Short
    Family
    Fathers Love
    Fear
    Flag
    Footstool
    Forgiveness
    Fresh Start
    Friendship
    Fr. Mike
    Fr. Mike Schmitz
    Galatians
    Generosity
    God In Everyday Things
    God In Scripture
    Gods Beloved
    God's Enough
    God's Forgiveness
    Gods Gifts
    God's Guidance
    God's Love
    Gods Love
    God's Plan
    Gods P Lan
    God's Restoration
    Gods Strength
    God's Timing
    Gods Timing
    Gods Ways
    God's Will
    Gods Will
    Goodness
    Good News
    Grace
    Grandma
    Grandpa
    Gratefulness
    Gratitude
    Greatness
    Gretness
    Grief
    Happiness
    Healing
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hebrews
    He Chose Me
    Holiness
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Thrusday
    Holy Thursday
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Humble
    Humility
    Identity In Christ
    Intimacy
    Isaiah
    James
    Jeremiah
    John
    Joshua
    Joy
    Judgement
    Justice
    Kids
    Kindne
    Kindness
    Labor
    Laughter
    Lent
    Lessons
    Light
    Listening
    Little
    Love
    Lovelies
    Luke
    Mark
    Marriage
    Mary
    Matthew
    Meekness
    Mercy
    Mom
    Mornings
    Mud
    Obedience
    Openness
    Parenting
    Parentng
    Patience
    Peace
    Pentacost
    People
    Perseverance
    Perspeceive
    Perspective
    Philippians
    Pioneers
    Pleasing God
    Poor
    Porch
    Positive
    Possibilities
    Pray
    Prayer
    Priorities
    Promises
    Proverbs
    Psalm
    Relationship
    Religion
    Respect
    Romans
    Sacrifice
    Sacrifices
    Sainthood
    Saints
    Samuel
    Scripture
    Seeking God
    Service
    Serving God
    Signs
    Silence
    Simple
    Sin
    Sinfulness
    Slow Down
    Small Stuff
    Steve Ray
    Stillness
    St. Mary's 4th Of July
    Strength
    Stress
    Suffering
    Surprises
    Surrender
    Temptation
    Thanks
    The Right Thing
    Time
    Troubled Times
    Trust
    Trust In God
    Truth
    Understanding
    Unravelled
    Valentines
    Waiting
    Weddings
    Word Of The Year
    Words
    Works Of Mercy
    Worry


    ​Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012


    Back to Home

    RSS Feed


      HOME                        BLOG                       SPEAKING                        WRITING                        HOSPITALITY                        MEET SHERI  

CONTACT: 989.640.6673
Picture
EMAIL

FACEBOOK

Twitter

Content is the intellectual property of Sheri Wohlfert 2017
Created by dhengesbach
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Hospitality
  • About Sheri