Tick. Tock. I sit in a youth center on the Fort Apache Reservation before opening for the school year. The hum of the ice machine sighs as the clock on the wall sings its own lullaby. The silence croons each inanimate object as I sit here and type. A bulletin board across from me catches my eye. With track schedules, autographed stuff from bands, and a couple of papers hanging, the jumble is relaxed but something has not just caught my eye, but my heart as well.
Tick. Tock. I’m caught by a missing person poster. Maybe I’m caught by it because I’ve seen the teen before. This page is a police department release. The poster includes description and contact info. What are his parents doing right now? What are they thinking? What keeps them sane when they’ve missed their child. “Missing.” How did he end up missing? Was he misplaced? Did he lose himself (run away)? Maybe both. I feel worried for him.
Tick. Tock. When I lose stuff I freak out. I look everywhere. However, after a certain time if I don’t find it I come to grips with the fact that it’s lost. So I rearrange my life to make due.
Tick. Tock. Jesus said, “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?” When I stayed on the Navajo reservation I stayed on the property of an elderly lady named Bessie. Bessie had sheep. Bessie rocks. She could walk outside and know in an instant if one of her sheep was missing. One day one WAS missing, so she hopped on a four wheeler and went and found it. She reminds me of Jesus in that sense. Jesus always knows when one of His sheep are missing, and when one is, He finds it. I was lost…Jesus didn’t lose me, it was me in my own sinfulness that lost me. But Jesus found me. Sometimes I get confused and lose track of my way, but Jesus leads me…even when I’m as dumb as a sheep.
Tick. Tock. “Jesus, thank You for finding me and loving me. Please help me to be more like You when it comes to finding stuff. And please help that teen to be found.”