When lost things find their home

The only thing I knew I wanted to talk about today was this...I FOUND MY PILLOW CASE. Now, this is nothing that I've blogged about before {on account of the subject was too hard to talk about}. Here's the low down- I have a pink pillow case that I have had since I was way little {exact age, unknown}. The pillow case used to be pillow caseS...but we have suffered a few casualties...and ONE remained in tact! I've never been real big on having a special stuffed animal or blanket {though there were a few bears that slept with me for more than one night, and there was that one blanket I used to take to kamp and stuff} but it's the pillow case that did it for me.

I took the case with me to my Freshman year of college without a second thought, and of course it came with me to kamp this summer. HOWEVER, after kamp it went missing! I KNOW that I brought it back. There are a few things that you check for before leaving somewhere. Like: keys, wallet, maybe a bag.....and if you're me- YOU CHECK FOR YOUR PINK PILLOW CASE! So before leaving Lampe, I had the pillow case. When I arrived in Dallas, I had the pillow case. But I did not think to check the washer  mid-wash to make sure my case was still accounted for. After that pivotal load of laundry..........my pillow case went missing. {It was the case of the missing case!} When I reluctantly left Dallas to come back to College Station for recruitment, my mom bought me new sheets that included matching pillow cases that promised to be soft. But no where on the packaging did it say, "Given to you by Grandma!" or, "Smells like Comfort!" or even, "Light pink with torn seems."

Sleeping was no longer as sweet. When I went home for the wedding and un-made my bed to climb in and go to sleep...what did I find, but my LIGHT PINK, GRANDMA-GIVEN, COMFORT-SMELLING, TORN-SEEMED PILLOW CASEEE!!!!! I literally yelped with excitement and immediately nestled my nose right in it as it filled me with warm contentment! This is what brings me to my title.......because my lost thing found it's home.

Can you smell the comfort?

I know it's easy to assume that my pillow was lost and it found me....but what if I was lost until I found my pillow once again? Won't you allow me to make a far stretch of a comparison? Concerning the pillow question- well that's easy...of course I did not FIND myself when my pillow case popped back into my life! Yes, it was quite a sweet reunion, and we have had no trouble picking right back up where we left off, but I'm not completely looney! Here's the stretch: There was a time when I was lost, before I had REALIZED my home...but here's the thing- I don't think I had anything to do with this founding. No, I think home found me. But then again...I'm not really talking about a house, on a street, with a street number, or a porch..........I'm not really talking about a "home" at all...what I'm really talking about is the owner. Jesus put me there and until I saw everything come together and realized where I was, He took care of me. Jesus still takes care of me, but He takes care of me in a new way. Now that I've realized what kind of temporary home I live in now, and what kind of eternal home I'm promised, he's got me doing some "work around the house", if you will.

God's way of taking care of me now that my faith has matured is by challenging me. Making me ask myself the questions I don't want to answer. Seeing if I cling to Him when things are good...but more importantly, seeing if I cling to Him harder, or even at all, when times are more trivial.

Romans 13:11-14 says, "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to WAKE FROM YOUR SLUMBER, because your salvation is nearer now than we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently as in the day time, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of sinful nature."

I love my pink pillow case, but I am so ready to wake from my slumber and cling to God in the light, when things are good, but hold myself to a higher standard as I cling even tighter when things are bad! So I suppose my stretch has now come full circle.  I had given up on finding my pillow case so I stopped looking...But there it was just sitting there, KNOWING that it had FOUND a place where I could REALIZE it! Similarly, to think that I had anything to do with being saved is wrong. I didn't find God, God allowed me to realize Him. I'd love to sleep all day, enjoying my recently found pillow case...but I've got a lot more faith in the one who never loses anything. So here's to the Founder of all...and the greatest realization that I will ever realize.