Sooo... I have a fun story to share that happened on our trip to California. Dad took care of all the hotels we stayed in, and when we got to the hotel he booked in Sonora, California, we parked the cars just outside of the pool outside while he went to check us in. Mom stayed in their car, and I stayed in my car with the kids. They all unbuckled and were playing around in the car while Dad was doing his thing, because it took a while. We rolled down the windows, and the kids just messed around in the back of the car.
Finally, he came back out, and we drove around to a different part of the hotel where our rooms were located. And we all piled out of the cars, dragging all of our stuff with us into the rooms, and trying to get everything set up for sleeping that night. I asked the kids to find Lamby in the car. I knew she was in the car, because I had seen her recently in Sawyer's car seat. But they come back saying they can't find her. So then, irritated, I go out to look. Irritated because, in my experience, the kids don't look very hard, and when I have to go look for something that they "can't find," I usually find it very quickly. It's irritating that they always need me to find things for them. Anyway. I was irritated. Also, I wanted to get these kids to bed because it was getting late.
So, I go look. And I can't find Lamby. Dad comes to help look in the car with me. I climb in the back, move everything around. Still can't find her. And getting more and more frustrated and worried. But I'm still fairly sure we had her recently. I think, "Maybe we should call the front desk." But Dad, Brooke, and I walk around the whole parking lot looking for her, because we had the windows open, and I think maybe she was just dropped out the window while we were driving through the lot. Can't find her.
At this point, I am slightly panicked. Sawyer is very attracted to his lamb and loves his lamb so much and has a very hard time sleeping without her. I acknowledged that I could probably buy a new lamb when we get home. But that didn't solve the immediate problem of sleep and the rest of the trip that Sawyer would have to endure without Lamby.
As I'm thinking (and trying not to be angry and panic), the thought comes to me, pretty clearly: "Call the front desk and ask if they have seen Lamby." My first thought was to reason away why this wouldn't work. But it felt like a prompting, and I'm trying to be better at following promptings right away. So, as I (stupidly) search the room we just arrived at (where Lamby couldn't possibly be hiding... but I'm desperate at this point), I say to dad, "Maybe we should call down to the front desk and ask if they've seen her." To his credit, dad immediately does this, without hemming and hawing and reasoning it away. And they say they have Lamby at the desk.
I jump up and start walking through the parking lot over to the lobby. The religious types and teachings were not lost on me at all. First, there was the prompting from the Holy Ghost, which I was relatively quick to obey. And it was a very easy and quick solution to this problem. I could've let myself be tortured about the loss of Lamby; I could've cried and been frustrated; I could've let this go on for a very long time. But God knew the solution, He knew it was easy. All I had to do was listen. What an amazing instance of teaching me about listening to the Spirit! Even when we think it may not work or make sense.
Second, it doesn't escape me that what we lost was A LAMB. Like, as in the Lamb of God? Jesus Christ? That we need to be seeking out the Lamb of God, and following Him. Also, the parable of the lost sheep: could God have been teaching me about the efforts and the worry we make in looking for that lost sheep? And how important it needs to be to me, to search for the lost sheep?
Third. I think God was reminding me of His love for me. And of His love for Sawyer. He helped me to find it because it was important to me and Sawyer. And as much as Lamby meant to Sawyer, as frantic as we felt trying to find Lamby, God has the same feelings for us ... many times over.
It was a pretty remarkable teaching moment for me. I cried on my walk over to the lobby. And I just felt Heavenly Father's awareness of me and Sawyer, His love for us, and His desire for me to learn of Him and His ways. I waited for the lady at the front desk to help me, I said, "I'm looking for a lost lamb." And she pulled Lamby out from under the desk and gave her to me. And I walked back with Lamby and thought about what I'd been taught.
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