Years ago, Emma casually informed us that she could not find her retainer.
We responded with all of the basic questions that are asked anytime someone loses something.
“Where was the last place you remember seeing it?”
“Did you have it at breakfast?”
“Did you check your room?”
We did not think much more about it, until the next day.
Still no retainer.
We asked Emma to look really hard for it during the day. We asked her to retrace her steps and to look everywhere.
By that evening, we were in full search mode.
All of the girls were looking.
Jenna was looking.
I was combing through the contents of the garbage from the last two days.
Still no retainer.
The next morning we were resolved that the retainer was missing and we held little hope that it was going to be found.
I took all of the garbage to the road.
Jenna called the orthodontist about getting a replacement in the hopes that our insurance would help cover this cost.
I had just stepped off of the train when Jenna called to tell me the news.
Not only would the insurance not cover the cost of the replacement, the replacement was twice as much money as we had originally thought it would be.
It was a sinking feeling.
The kind of feeling when you know that accidents happen.
You know that Emma was not the first person to lose a retainer.
You know that in the grand scheme of things, there are way worse things.
Still, we had not planned on this.
And, we were not happy about it.
Jenna made an appointment for Emma to go to her orthodontist in Brooklyn the following day for her replacement retainer.
Emma felt horrible about losing the retainer and we were doing our best not to make her feel bad.
We told her over and over again that we knew it was an accident.
But, it was hard for us to hide our own disappointment about the situation.
I was in my office at home talking with a pastor from Brooklyn, when I heard a knock on the door.
I opened the door to see Jenna and Emma.
I momentarily excused myself from the phone call and pressed the mute button to find out what was happening.
When Jenna and Emma had my full attention, Emma pulled the missing retainer from behind her back.
She found it! She found it!
We were jumping up and down.
There was the good kind of screaming and yelling.
There was a celebration!
I thought of the parables that Jesus taught in Luke 15 about the missing coin, the missing sheep, and the missing son.
I could identify with the celebration that ensues when we have resolved that something is gone or that something is lost, only to find it at the most unexpected time in the most unexpected way.
The Bible talks about the celebration in heaven when people who are lost become found.
The words from Luke 15:7 say: “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”
I want to experience this type of joy consistently in my life.
I have moments when I do.
But, I can often forget about the celebration that accompanies the lost being found and the old being made new.
I have been praying for God to help me remember and for Him to help me to live my life in seeing lost things, lost people, and lost situations become found by Him.
Ironically, I have started to think of God as my retainer.
That may sound silly.
But, every time I think of the retainer, I am reminded that God is the one who holds things in place.
I have also been asking God to help me retain my joy.
I am asking for God to retain my hope.
I am asking for God to retain my purpose.
As a follower of Jesus, I have much to celebrate today.
I was lost and I have been found.
I was blind but now I see.
I have been given purpose.
Yet, this is for everyone.
There is no one too far gone.
There is no one is who is too lost.
There is no one who is beyond God’s reach.
There is no one that God cannot rescue.
And, there is no one that God does not celebrate!
More than a sheep.
More than a coin.
More than a retainer.
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