It is far to easy to take things in our lives for granted when we have them at our fingertips. Perhaps we don’t appreciate things as we should when they are familiar and we begin to feel our blessings are simply normal.

This week-end I lost the third earring in parts unknown due to putting on a face mask and taking it off somewhere inside the car or in a parking lot. I felt frustrated at the loss each time and have pretty well decided that face masks and earrings were never intended to wear together. Although I hated losing an earring and ruining three good pair, I was also struck with how insignificant the loss of such a little thing is in the big picture of what we face in life.

I began to think about important things that people lose and how treasured those same things are when they’re restored.

I have a friend who lost her very expensive wedding ring set. She didn’t want to have to tell her husband, but needed help from him and the children to search their house from top to bottom. The rings were nowhere to be found. She finally gave up and felt terrible about the loss. She prayed and asked God to have mercy on the situation and help her recover the rings if they were anywhere in the house. There was more involved than just the absence of the jewelry. Feelings of unworthiness had set in. Pushing aside the hurt and disappointment, the feelings of failure and unworthiness, she got back to her daily routine.  

I can’t remember how much time passed, but she got a load of black socks in a lbasked from the laundry room to sort and put away. Her rings were laying perfectly together and on top of one of the black socks. She said she had covered every inch of the house more than once and had no idea how the rings got there, but believed that in answer to her prayers, an angel had placed them there in plain sight. One can only imagine her joy at finding the rings and being able to tell her husband they had been recovered.

There are more important things in life then objects, no matter what their cost. The health we take for granted, once lost, will never be taken for granted again if it is restored. The loss of a loved one unexpectedly will cause us to think of those we still have and encourage us to love them even more while we can. A person who has been in prison will more than likely treasure the freedom they had lost once they get out and have it restored.

Lost relationships whether they are with friends or sweethearts are among the most hurtful things to lose. Only when someone comes to fill that empty spot does the person realize how much value that person holds in their life.

When my son was a toddler, he got lost in a store once and I was in a state of mindboggling fear until we found him asleep behind closed cabinet doors under a display table. Finding him safely there asleep was perhaps the greatest relief I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Lost keys bring nothing but frustration until they are found.  My mom and dad seem to spend a lot of time looking for false teeth, hearing aids, glasses, and cups of unfinished coffee.

I’m looking forward to the end of this social season of loss of freedoms for safety’s sake during the current pandemic. I look forward to going to church inside the building without a mask, eating inside a restaurant, going shopping for clothes and necessary items whenever I want. I look forward to more than one person per household allowed to enter a store at the same time. I believe we will all be happy at the recovery of these things we took for granted that were lost, when once again they are restored.

By Judith Victoria Hensley