Forgotten

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies ? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.  Luke 12:6 NIV

 

His father took him to the bus, so I watched from an upstairs window to make sure he made it on time.  And from that small window in the water closet, something caught my eye.  White, red, and yellow swirled lying among the grass.  Curiosity drove me down the stairs and into the yard. I walked past the hose stretched across the yard propped up with a shepherd’s hook – a homemade sprinkler for the last days of summer. 

 

With bare feet I walked to the back of the yard to settle my inquisitive mind.  I walked closer and recognized those colors as a familiar doll.  Red pigtails, blue eyes, and freckles.  Her mouth forever in a smile, she lazed in the grass with arms and legs askew.  Forgotten.  Most likely her day in the yard found her swinging and barreling down the slide.  But her position suggested she had been tossed high in the air.  While she hung in the air ready to return to earth, the attention of one little four-year-old girl was stolen.  And she fell with no one to catch her.  Left in the yard to welcome night.  Forgotten. 

 

Stretching to pick her up, I looked at the painted smile and freckles and felt compelled to return the grin.  I walked back across the grass, feeling the prickly dry pieces poking out from under the green, a reminder that fall was near.  Turning, I surveyed the yard.  Orange cones in a line, a plastic bat and ball, and one lonely light saber all cast offs.  Forgotten. 

 

I looked back at the doll, dusted off dry grass, and carried her in the house. 

 

Lord, thank you for going out into the yard and picking me up when I have been forgotten by the world.  Even when I have to suffer through the darkness of night alone, it is You who will see me lying there and come for me.  You alone, Father, will pick me up and dust me off.  Lord, you carry me back to fellowship with you.  Thank you.  I have not been forgotten by you.  Help me to remember no matter what You will come for me.  I love you, Lord.