I’ve never been awfully fond of that phrase. It seemed not all that nice to me. Finders keepers…Losers weepers. Can’t you just hear a mean little kid from your childhood in a nasally, high-pitched, whiny voice practically singing it to you in victory when he found your favorite pencil or eraser or sticker whatever little trinket you lost and so loved with all your heart only to see your arch nemesis parading around with it? Ugh…the shear meanness of that statement use to drive me up the wall. That’s not how we should treat one another! However…today I kind of reverted my thinking of finders keepers in one area of my life.
I woke up this morning and for the first time in a very long time I was so excited to be going to church and helping lead worship with our amazing team at bible study. I’ve been on quite a worship journey since falling ill and it has been a difficult step for me to enjoy singing again. I felt like finally God was working in my heart and I was going to just let loose and give Him all I had. Then…on our drive in…Maxwell threw up all over himself…twice! As little Jackson says… “Aweeeoh Maaaan!”
My mother-in-law knowing the responsibilities I had this morning so graciously offered to drop me off and take the boys home in order to give Max a bath and wash his clothes and come back to get me. As she drove away I started to really feel torn between what my priorities should be. Nevertheless I made it through rehearsal in distraction and when we went into our prayer time my dear friend could see the discontentment on my face and I explained what had happened. I started to lament at how badly I felt that my mother-in-law had to take the boys home and one of the very wise women I have the pleasure of worshiping with said “Will you stop it!? Let your mother-in-law be the blessing she wants to be!” God showed me right then that I was letting a circumstance steal the joy that I had felt all morning up until it happened. I didn’t have to do that.
Our (also very wise) worship leader started us in prayer and asked us to give whatever it was that was hindering our hearts to the Lord before we prayed for our worship time. So many of us were carrying burdens of the to-do’s of this week and the what happened this mornings and I was so relieved I wasn’t the only one…but so relieved I knew what to do with it. I prayed that God will still my heart and just allow me to embrace the joy of worship I had felt when I first got out of bed…that He would heal my little guy and ease my spirit because his grandma would give him just the same care (if not better) than I would…that every woman would feel His radiant presence this morning. The most amazing thing happened…He.answered…all of it!
What an uplifting time of worship we had in thankful gratitude to the Lord for all He has been doing in our lives. So many ladies shared their gratefulness to God for what He has shown them, how He is shaping them, how He is healing them…many through the most unlikely circumstances. It was such a blessing to hear the stories of what God is doing…how He shows up…how He is so faithful…how much He loves us! To think…I may have missed all that wrapped up in something else and just going through the motions in distraction. I made the choice to give it up…made the choice to let it go…and I’m convinced that’s the better way to live! There are things I cannot control…but I can control my reaction to them. Needless to say Max is totally fine and Grandma and the boys had a wonderful morning on their own filled with bath time and pancakes and toys…and a little laundry on the side.
God really showed me this morning that when I find real joy…the kind that can’t be manufactured or duplicated…the kind that overflows from my heart and spills to all those around me…the kind that can only be found in Him…I need to keep it and not let anything else steal it away. When we lose something as remarkable as that…we will certainly weep….so don’t let it go no matter what the circumstance. Find His joy…and don’t lose it!
Wonders of HIS Love 