Amazing Grace

"I once was lost but now I'm found."

Once when Kaylee was around 5 years old, she lost me in a big crowd. Notice I said "she lost me." Even though we were in the midst of a gazillion people, I never lost sight of her. I called to her over and over but she could not hear me above the noise of the crowd. I watched her as she cried. I watched as she became increasingly terrified. I watched as she kept getting farther and farther away from me in her confusion. Finally I just barrelled through the crowd and snatched her up. We wept with relief and she kept saying over and over, "Mommy I couldn't find you." And I told her, "I was right here all along but I just couldn't get to you."

I am moved by how much this memory parallels my own journey toward God. My whole life, I considered myself to be a Christian. I just had no idea what being a Christian really meant. I stumbled through my life in panic and despair. I always believed in God. I just never considered that God believed in me. I may have been out of the will of God but I know now that I was never out of his sight.

Maybe being found means realizing that you were never really lost at all.