*A breather post is a break from my usual writing. I explain it more here.
The baby was napping and I had just run downstairs to grab something before heading back up. But as I stood in the kitchen looking out our back patio doors, I saw a person. It was a boy sitting at the top of our slide. He was facing away from me. His short black hair reminded me of my second-born. However, my brain was utterly confused because as I quickly did a headcount in my family room and kitchen, the numbers all added up and the suspected son was sitting right in front of me at our kitchen table.
I looked harder, trying to decipher who it was. He appeared to be six or seven years old. We have tons of boys on our street who love to play outside, but I didn’t recognize his stature. Maybe some kids had wandered into our yard to play? I scanned the vicinity. It was clear that the child was alone. With my curiosity pulsing, I walked outside to greet him.
Once we were finally face to face I confirmed that I had never met him before. I tried to start a simple conversation to ensure he knew how to get home.
“Hi…”, I said gently.
Silence.
”Are you lost?”
Silence.
”Do you know how to get home?”
Silence.
“Where is your mom?”
Silence.
He didn’t answer me, at all, and he didn’t make eye contact, either. It was almost as if I wasn’t there. I saw that he had a phone in his hand, which was playing a video. He glanced at it from time to time but was mostly looking around at his surroundings. His eyes bounced from the left to the right and then back again.
He was nonverbal.
My concern was officially pricked. I have experience working in a special education setting. I knew that this child could be in danger if left to himself.
My husband was on a work call, and I tried to get his attention from outside his office window. I was already on the phone with a neighbor to see if they knew where the child lived when the little boy began wandering out of our yard.
There was no time to grab my shoes. As I followed a couple of feet behind him, I could hear his phone ringing. Someone was trying to call him, but every time they did, he would swipe up and end the call. Since I was a complete stranger I did not want to frighten him by taking his phone. I started to wonder if he was walking back home. I decided to wait and see.
I watched him walk up to the first house he approached. He attempted to open the front door; it was locked. He then went around to the home’s fenced yard and attempted to open it, but he couldn’t. He then tried to open the next fenced-in yard.
No, something was definitely not right.
I got off the phone with my neighbor and dialed 9-1-1. The boy continued walking down the block and started bobbing and weaving out of front yards and backyards. The dispatcher immediately revealed that they had just received a call for a missing child. The police were already on their way. I was relieved.
Thankfully, we came upon a fenceless yard with a swing set. He was enamored with it. As he climbed the ladder onto the playset I could finally pinpoint our exact location for the first responders to come find us.
As I waited on the phone with the dispatcher, another neighbor texted me saying that there was a mother in front of her home looking for her lost son. We quickly exchanged texts about our whereabouts and a police officer showed up within minutes. Unfortunately, the closer the cop came to the boy the further and faster he moved away. I knew the mother was coming to the address so I was advised to stay put and trust that the cop would keep up with him.
Soon after, I saw a minivan stop and the mother jumped out. I don’t remember many words being exchanged between us past me trying to reassure her that he was okay even though he was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes frantically looked past and around me as I attempted to explain that an officer was with her son. I could tell she needed to see him with her own eyes.
We ran to the end of the block together and witnessed several officers further down the road gathering around the boy. As the mom caught a view of her lost child she let out a cry of relief. I couldn’t imagine what her last 15, 30, or 60 minutes had felt like. Together we watched the boy’s father who had also been driving around looking for his son, hop out of the car and embrace him. It was a precious sight.
The experience of losing something can cause anything from frustration to agonizing pain, depending on the value of what was lost. Especially because as more time passes, we must wrestle with the possibility of what is temporarily lost becoming permanently lost. This realization can cause feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and inadequacy.
For whatever reason, my husband and I have been quite the lost dog magnets. We’ve come across them on neighborhood walks, while driving, and I even had one walk up to me while sitting on my deck. I don’t know if we’re that special or if there are really that many lost pets in the world, but witnessing the moment of a dog owner being reunited with their lost pup is one of the best feelings in the world. Even so, it pails in comparison to returning a lost child to their parents!
There is so much beauty that lies in being returned something that we’ve resolved to possibly never get back. It’s a moment that begs for celebration. Let’s cherish some of these moments together. Please, share one of your best lost and found stories!
One morning, I was at the pool in with all of the kids. When it came time to go home, one of my daughters noticed that her older sister’s cross necklace was missing. This is the cross that she received from her godmother the day of her baptism and is really special. It’s considered significant in the same way that a wedding ring is significant after a marriage ceremony.
I had to try to find it, so I put on my goggles and searched the pool areas but came up empty handed. It is a really large facility! I reported the necklace missing to the staff and checked the lost and found, but ultimately, we didn’t find it and we had to go home due to some other obligations.
I hugged my eldest and said, “We just need to pray that we find it. It still may be in the car or your bed. Or maybe someone will find it at the pool.” She replied, “I’ve already been praying,” and my 9 and 6 year olds both said, “me, too.” Then both of them stood up and embraced their older sister and me.
We spent the entire day searching and praying. When my husband asked my eldest (11-years-old) if she was sad, she said “well I prayed, and God will help us find it. So I’m not too worried.” I, likewise, was in my room this afternoon and realized that I had, once again, as is my tendency for things I consider “lost-causes” or “insignificant,” been praying in a spirit of un-expectancy – I asked that God would allow us to find it but I didn’t BELIEVE He would. So, I shifted and prayed again, but this time: hopefully, expectant that the cross would turn up.
Fast-forward about an hour later and my husband decided to go to the pool to look around. when he ran into a friend of mine from church. He told her why he was there and said, “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack, but I have to try.” My friend said she would take a look, too. Not even 2 minutes later, she approached my husband with the necklace in her hand. She found it! And, boy did our family is rejoice!!
He continues to teach us so much through every circumstance:
Prayer is powerful!
He cares for us.
He cares about what’s important to us.
He cares about the little things.
We all need faith like a child.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing!!