Lost Things

"I will restore the years the locusts have eaten." Joel 2:25

Patrick just finished installing built ins in our basement, so we were going through boxes to gather books and photos to finally unpack…a year later. While we were hunting for a few specific things that we hadn’t come across yet, when we found a bag of vintage family photos from Patrick’s side. Thinking we’d placed them somewhere safe, we discovered a few hours later that there was a good chance they ended up in one of the boxes that got taken to the dump. 

I found Patrick sitting in his recliner with his eyes closed about an hour after this unfortunate realization. He said he was nauseous from losing the photos. I honestly couldn’t believe him, because over the last 8 years (and probably longer for me) God has restored and returned and revived my whole life - including countless physical items I counted as lost forever. With all sincerity, we have been finding lost things with God for many years - all of us and usually always together when they re-appear. 

I declared with full force of heart that our God was placing them back under our roof right now! Immediately I heard Leia’s little footsteps fly down the basement stairs …the child who always has to get a head start :) As the two of us rummaged around inside of cabinets, drawers, and boxes we’d already looked in over the past hour, I felt the return from God in the room. It quickened my spirit to re-open a box of board games and there was the bag of precious photos tucked perfectly in the corner of the box. JESUS!!!

There’s truly no way to express moments like this, especially when the entire family is the front row audience of these moves of Heaven. Instead of asking questions or speculating, we just erupt in joy and praise and the greatest well of laughter spills out! It’s almost too much in every good way. 

I want to encourage you today that God is in the room with a heart full of things, time, and gifts He wants to restore to you. He is the rewarder of those who seek Him and He is the giver of every perfect gift we didn’t even know to ask Him for. I pray your life testifies of these supernatural miracles from this day forward.