May 14, 2001
'It once was lost and now it's found'
___The missing library book has been found. Not on purpose, mind you, but entirely by accident. Which is probably how it got lost in the first place.
___This book had been missing so long I had forgotten it was missing until I found it. But it turned out to be just in the nick of time, because Alison had renewed the check-out at the library the maximum amount of time and was going to give in and pay for the book tomorrow.
___ Had we searched the house over for this missing book--which we in fact had done weeks ago--we would not have found it. It had landed in an entirely illogical place--illogical, that is, unless you knew precisely when it went missing, which none of us did.
MARK WINGFIELD
___ I found the small paperback tucked inside a manila file folder along with other remnants of our Cub Scout Blue & Gold banquet. The temporary filing place for all Cub Scout stuff is, of course, the dining room table. Once there, these Scout documents, projects and leftovers get buried under stacks of unopened junk mail and magazines until either Alison or I can't bear it anymore and take a rash notion to clean off that table. Either that or we've got company coming for dinner.
___ Given the fact that our end-of-school schedule is already in full spin, dinner guests are out of the question (Alison recently informed me she thinks we might have a free weekend night sometime in July). So the way the table got cleaned off was that I caved in. I just couldn't take the clutter anymore.
___I never expected to find "Star Wars Journal: Hero for Hire" in that stack of stuff, though. Just goes to show how true it is that often you don't find what you're looking for until you're not looking for it anymore.
__I knew if I held out long enough, he would have to do something. Of course, the majority of the clutter was Cub Scout paraphernalia, so I think I was justified in letting him do the straightening this time.
___Junk mail and the boys' school papers multiply like rabbits at our house. Just when I think I've got everything filed in the appropriate place (including the trash file), up crops more paper.
___Sometimes my sorting consists of spreading out the papers, mail,magazines, etc., into various piles that make sense only to me. Then Mark comes in and adds to the piles with stuff that doesn't fit into my (at least in my mind) well-ordered system. Then we're back at square one.
ALISON WINGFIELD
___I think I'll stick to the cleaning and let Mark do the straightening. Only problem is, if he doesn't straighten, I can't clean. It's a good excuse anyway.
___The clutter in the house is bad enough. Now with the advent of e-mail, we have computer clutter to deal with. I love the lack of a paper trail (although I do print out documents from time to time). But cleaning out my e-mail in-box is almost as bad as filing papers. It is amazing how quickly I can have 100 messages to file. I ditch what I can as soon as I've read it, but sometimes the pack rat in me kicks in and I think I need to keep messages in the in-box "just in case" I need that information later.
___ At least I can't lose an e-mail as easily as we lost that library book.
___Jesus could have added to the parables of the lost coin, sheep and son just by hanging around our house. We're always losing something. If it's not the boys' shoes, it's my keys or purse. We're not exactly good at "a place for everything and everything in its place."
___ When we do find something, maybe we can be reminded of how Jesus cares for the truly lost and rejoices over everyone who comes to him.
___
Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly.
PREVIOUS HE SAID/ SHE SAID COLUMNS:
1999: 6/16, 6/23, 6/30, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27 11/17, 11/24, 12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 12/22,
2000: 1/5, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/1, 3/8, 3/22, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12, 6/19, 6/26, 7/10, 6/26, 6/19, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 11/6, 11/20, 11/27, 12/11.
2001: 1/1, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/12, 3/5, 4_19, 4/2, 4/23
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
