An awesome thing happened to me this week!  I lived the parable of the lost coin.  Remember this one?

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’  ¹⁰ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

[Luke 15:8-10 NKJV]

This piece of scripture came alive to me over the last week.  When my father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s our lives were a whirlwind of doctors, lawyers, caretakers, and papers.  I’m still swimming in paper nine months after his death. Dad was not capable of helping us find things.  We had to hunt for the information.  By the time we needed this paper, his mind was gone.

Yes, I’m talking about pictures.  We collected the pictures he had scattered around the house.  Between my personal pictures and those we found, we could piece together a memorial photo display from his boyhood to his octogenarian years.  We are still missing many treasured family pictures.

The princes, my husband and I scoured the house for photos, as we tried to clean up the mess left behind by a hoarder with dementia.  A lot of stuff went to the curb but, we didn’t find the albums.

Going through his stuff exhausted us.  I physically reacted to the heat and humidity.  Just a few hours one day a week left me in severe pain.  I gave up and called my realtor.  I said, “I can’t do it.  It will take a year to clean up the property.  What if we sell it as is with everything on it?”

After one more search of the property.  We proceeded with the paperwork for the sale.  God blessed us with a motivated buyer and a solid offer.

The buyer contacted my realtor.  They had found albums and asked if I wanted them.  My husband picked up the albums.  That evening I dug through seven albums of family history dating back the late nineteenth century.  Some of the photos I don’t ever recall seeing.

My moms and I discovered the late 1800s wedding photo of my great-great-grandmother and great-great-grandfather.  Their names recorded on the back in a faint pencil script.  And now I know my great grandmother’s handwriting.  How amazing is that!

What we lost is now found!  Rejoice with me!  For I have found lost history!

When I look up the parable, the last sentence took my breath away:

¹⁰ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Just like finding my history, heaven’s joy is when we repent and return to God’s way.  For me, repentance is not a one-time event.  I have lost my way a few times in the {cough} fifty years I’ve been a Christian.  Each time I return to Him, sorry for my sins and make the effort to return to His path, He calls to His friends and neighbors; hey everyone!  Milly has found her way back!  Rejoice with me!

Remember; when we are lost and find our way home with a heart ready to change, God and heaven rejoices.

God Bless your ways today!

Milly