The Un-find-able

I was settled in a chair on the sidelines.
I was there to watch my oldest daughter play field hockey.
These were the years before she actually played on her school team.
These were the years when she tried her skill in a community league.

This was my little girl.
The daughter who was the only one to play with a Barbie doll.
The daughter who carried around her teddy bear that looked like a monkey.
My very feminine girly-girl.

Until this particular day.
Until she got on the field.
Until she played a sport that she loved.
Until she had an opponent.

I remember sitting there thinking, Who is this girl?
Who is this girl who goes after ground balls with aggression?
Who is this girl who is relentless in her desire to play well and play fair?
This was a side of my daughter I had never seen.

This athlete who went on to play both field hockey and lacrosse in high school.
This athlete who went on to play lacrosse in college and become an All-American.
This athlete who played with skill and determination.
Qualities she carried with her into her adult life.

I enjoy going to antique stores.
Twice a year there is a large sale that I very rarely miss.
I can find old tins, crocks, furniture, books, and odd dishes.
Spring and fall, I make it a point to go to the sale on the opening day.

If someone watched me at that sale, they may say the same thing.
Who is this woman?
Who is the woman who grabs a cardboard box and makes a beeline to the furniture?
Who is this woman who knows what to dismiss and what to look for?

It is almost like we have two sides to our personality.
The personality that is ours everyday, the one that most people see.
The personality that comes out when pressed or when we are determined.
As Christians, we pray that both are God-honoring.

I am never rude at the sale.
I do not elbow people out of the way.
But like my daughter, I shop with skill and determination.
Qualities that have served me well over the years.

My daughter, who is a schoolteacher, always put in her request for books.
I would write down authors, or genres she wanted me to look for at the sale.
I was a woman on a mission.
I carried my cardboard box, or boxes, to the back where the books were shelved.

I claimed my spot like a homesteader and went to work finding and sifting through books.
I was able to supply many of the books she needed for her classroom reading corner.
Some books cost twenty-five cents and some cost a dollar.
I even found books for our library at home.

I would stand in the long lines and purchase my books first.
Then after putting them in the car, I would go back and look around for other finds.
That bi-annual sale is something I look forward to every year.
The delight is in the find, the acquisition of the thing.

It is about finding just the right thing, the impossible thing that happens to be there.
I often think of a line from a poem as I quietly celebrate a rare find.
The line from the poem, The Windhover, by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
My heart in hiding stirred for a bird – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

The achieve of, the mastery of the thing.
The thrill of the find.
The acquisition.
The sheer delight in finding the un-find-able.

How very like God.
Except to God, nothing is un-find-able.
Everything is within His grasp.
And yet, in the acquisition, in the mastery, in the find, there is Divine delight.

Then Jesus told them this parable: Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.  (Luke 15:3-7)

The shepherd has pure delight in finding his lost sheep.
The achieve of, the mastery of the thing.
He puts that lost sheep on his shoulders and brings it home.
He shares the good news with his friends and neighbors.

How very like God.
The Good Shepherd.
The One who calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.
The One the sheep will follow because they know His voice. (John 10:3-5)

Our hearts are in hiding until He calls them out.
Our hearts are stirred, changed, and are made new.
The achieve of, the mastery of the thing.
There is no such thing as un-find-able, when the Lord Jesus is the One looking.

The windhover of the Spirit of God quickens our hiding heart.
We are found.
Praise God, we are found.
Nothing is un-find-able in Him.