{"id":10286,"date":"2019-06-12T05:54:51","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T10:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=10286"},"modified":"2019-06-12T05:54:59","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T10:54:59","slug":"what-once-was-lost-now-is-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=10286","title":{"rendered":"What Once was Lost, Now is Found"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It was my son, Larry\u2019s birthday on Sunday and it was a packed-full day. That\u2019s just the way we roll around here on birthdays! After church, it was to his favorite Mexican food restaurant for birthday lunch, opening gifts. Mine were the things I heard him say he needed during our fishing trip, including walkie-talkies (we were in a no-cell-coverage area). His next request — an afternoon nap. Whoohoo for all of us! I headed to my home and all of us enjoyed sweet rest and relaxation. Before long, their call came for me to come back for the celebrations to continue. It started with more of Larry\u2019s favorites: nachos (obviously this family can\u2019t get enough of Mexican food), watermelon, and my famous chocolate cake \u2013 followed by Larry\u2019s favorite family games. Mind you \u2013 everything in this day was Larry\u2019s choices and desires, except for the “must wear” sombrero by Staci. He is always such a good sport. It was all on course for the best birthday ever, but, THEN\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I received the call at about 10 pm from Staci: \u201cMom, pray! We can\u2019t find Emma (their 4-pound Yorkie). We\u2019ve looked all over, called her name, shouted \u201cTreat! Car ride!\u201d, but she\u2019s not here. We\u2019ve driven around, calling her name, but we haven’t found her. We prayed for her protection and that someone would find her.\u201d Larry\u2019s birthday didn\u2019t end as planned, for sure. Staci recalled how she and Larry laid in bed staring at the ceiling \u2013 feeling helpless, yet hopeful and prayerful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From my end, I couldn\u2019t sleep thinking about sweet, literally God-given Emma who had brought such joy to this family for so many years. Staci and I text messaged throughout the night because she was on our heart and in our prayers, with words like: “Believing someone will turn her in tomorrow safe and sound, in Jesus’ name.” “God knows where she is and I pray for her protection.” No doubt. No words of unbelief. Only the assurance that God is all-knowing and she’ll be home soon! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We refused unbelief and thought God’s thoughts: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) As strange as it sounds — we were all at peace, yet hoping we would hear good news. No mourning or anxiety at all. Emma is actually Alexia’s dog, Staci asked her: “Are you okay?” Alexia responded “Yes, Mom! She’s coming back!” I loved her faith and certainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We kept those positive thoughts throughout the day. THEN, around 6 pm, Monday night, almost 24-hours later, Larry received a phone call from a lady whose daughter had been over at her friend\u2019s house and saw the cutest little, dressed-in-pink Yorkie. The girl went home, told her mother and because she had seen the Nextdoor app message and photo, she gave Larry the phone number of the people. He called and they went to pick Emma up \u2013 who had been loved and cared for and protected for those 24-hours, just as we had prayed. Whether they planned on keeping her or eventually look for her owners, we don\u2019t know, but God knew all along and it all worked out for good. Emma is safely home where she belongs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t help but sing: \u201cOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine. I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.” That is the same God Who loves Emma and you and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, I sang \u201cAmazing Grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I\u2019m found. Was blind but now I see.\u201d Again, the same love of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shared this long, exhaustive story with you today because I know there is a clear message here for you and me. The same God Who cares so much about a little 4-pound Yorkie cares about your 110 to 350-pound self today. He doesn\u2019t give up until you are in the fold with His other sheep. His love, so far beyond any love we could have for our pets or our children or loved ones, is reaching out to you today \u2013 to feed you, give you nourishment, speak peace and rest to your weary body and soul, answer even your smallest to largest prayers and concerns. Won\u2019t you come home where you belong? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was my son, Larry\u2019s birthday on Sunday and it was a packed-full day. That\u2019s just the way we roll around here on birthdays! After church, it was to his favorite Mexican food restaurant for birthday lunch, opening gifts. Mine were the things I heard him say he needed during our fishing trip, including walkie-talkies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13521,13523,13522],"tags":[333,156,13527,13526,267,13525,6605,13524,4540,2277,9288,2762,10578],"class_list":["post-10286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amazing-grace","category-missing","category-yorkie","tag-amazing-grace","tag-birthday","tag-certainty","tag-dog","tag-faith","tag-i-once-was-lost","tag-missing","tag-nextdoor-app","tag-philippians-48","tag-positive-thoughts","tag-praying","tag-think-on-these-things","tag-yorkie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10286"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10293,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10286\/revisions\/10293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}