My Morning Musings

I lost my paycheck!! 😳 Seriously, who does that? 🙄 Who loses their paycheck? Apparently, I do!🙋‍♀️

It was not a “normal” Friday, so I was slightly out of my usual routine. I work for my parents’ trucking company, so my mother and I had taken a break from work to go watch my niece perform at a gymnastics competition; then when I left work, I went to town instead of my normal route which is usually by the bank, then home. I realized after I left work Friday that I had forgotten to get my check off of my desk, but thought I could just get it on Monday instead of going back.

Monday comes, and it did not cross my mind to get my check because I’m used to taking care of that on Friday. I realized again on Tuesday when I sat down to pay bills – OOPS! 🙄 Thankfully, we were not broke and were fine to wait until I went back to work on Thursday to get my paycheck.

So Thursday rolls around, my brain is back to functioning properly, and I remember to get the check off my desk. The only problem is THE CHECK IS NOT THERE!!!! 😳 I told my mom (aka boss 😉) what I had done and that the check was missing. We both start looking everywhere with no luck. I decided that I must have just thought I didn’t get it Friday and that it must be at my house somewhere or in my vehicle. I get home and search my house, my purse, my vehicle… everywhere I could think of, but the check was still missing.

It’s Friday again and still no check. We search the office – my desk, mom’s desk, the drivers’ lockers to see if I had stuck it in there by mistake when putting out their checks, the files to see if it had gotten attached to papers I had filed during the week… we searched everywhere! Mom told me, and we would void that one, but I just couldn’t do it. I felt so careless! I mean, really, who loses their paycheck?? I wanted to look at home one more time.

I searched the entire weekend. Went through every paper in my house, under the beds, nightstands, couches, closets, in the girl’s rooms, in their purses… I cleaned out my vehicle and checked under the seats – No check! I felt like the lady in Luke 15:9 “… what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she loses one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently til she finds it?”

Monday rolls around, and it has now been 10 days since the check has gone missing. I thought to check my mom’s vehicle because I had ridden with her to watch my niece so maybe I had picked it up and brought it with me. We searched, but it wasn’t there either. We searched in the trash to see if it had gotten thrown away by mistake, but still, no check. By now I was utterly frustrated at how something so important could get misplaced and could be lost for this long. I started to print another but again just couldn’t bring myself to do it, thinking it HAS to turn up. I told mom that if I had not found it by Friday (two weeks from the lost date), I would print another but wanted to give just a little more time to find it hopefully.

Early Thursday morning (like 2am early), I woke up suddenly and from out of nowhere, the first thought that ran through my mind was “Go check your Bible! You had your Bible in your purse, and the check may have fallen into the pages.” The thought was followed by doubt because I had really given up hope of ever finding it.

Let me stop and say that I have many Bibles that I use on a regular basis. I have one that I like to use when I’m studying for my Sunday school lessons or Youth Class, one that I use for my daily devotion, one that I take to church… and so on. Now back to the story…

Even though it was a place I had not checked, I did not jump up quickly and race to find the Bible. I’m NOT a morning person at all, so it takes more than a thought to get me out of bed at 2am! Instead, I started replaying the events of the last two weeks… I was sure I did not get the check on Friday but wasn’t so sure about the following Monday. IF I had gotten the check on Monday, the Bible could have still been in my purse from Sunday… I remembered that I did not use that Bible on Wednesday because youth service went a little different than usual and my husband did not read a text. I didn’t use it the following Sunday because we preached out of town and I played the piano while my husband was reading his text. I didn’t use it the second Wednesday night (remember we’re going on 2 weeks since I lost this check) because it was July 4th and I ran the media at church that night. As I am replaying all these events in my mind, I quickly realize that it is very possible that the check could be in my Bible and the reason I had not found it was because I had not used that particular Bible since my check had gone missing!

With doubt still in my mind but yet a small glimmer of hope, I silently prayed that it would be there and went to look. I picked up the Bible and opened it… tucked safely in between the pages was my check! Joy, excitement, and disbelief filled my heart and mind as I stared at the open Bible containing my check in its pages. Then I felt as if God whispered, “so many people are lost and are struggling to find answers to their problems but if they will just open My Word…” WOW! I could feel the presence of God so strong as I stood in my living room staring at what once was lost but now I had found.

If you are struggling to find your way or maybe you are completely “lost” and can’t find direction; if you are searching for the answers to the problems in your life: take a moment to open the pages of your Bible. Get into the Word of God. You haven’t strayed too far or been away too long! God is waiting for you just as the father was waiting for his prodigal son.

The continuation of the story of the woman in Luke 15:8 is that “when she hath found it, she called her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (Luke 15:9-10)

Previous to that, in verses 4-7 of Luke 15 the Bible says, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

Perhaps you don’t consider yourself “lost” but just overwhelmed by life itself – we all feel this way from time to time – feeling hopeless from the trials and struggles we face; God is still there. Deuteronomy 31:4 states, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

To sum up this long post in one sentence: No matter your situation – good or bad – there is safety in the Word of God!

Be encouraged today! You can find yourself when you get into the presence of God through his word!

DISCLAIMER (especially to the grandparents of my children): Regardless of the fact that my children are “starving to death” when they visit your house, no child went hungry during the missing paycheck fiasco! 😂