When You Don’t Realize What’s Missing Until You’re Too Far to Turn Around
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After a full weekend in Chattanooga, TN, at a Christian Communicator’s Conference, my heart was full, but my mind was tired. Waking early and getting my husband ready on time, I thought it was a miracle. Not only did we leave early, but we were ahead of schedule. At this rate, we would make it back before sunset and have a full day to unwind before the work week began.
As the road stretched before us, we listened to Church, talked about the week, and gloated about “leaving on time.” This wasn’t unusual for me, but for my husband, who has OCD, it was a huge victory. We were both exhausted, but the good kind of exhaustion that comes from something meaningful. An overflowing spirit, clearer direction, and dreams in full steam ahead. Until 4 hours into our drive, we got a strange message from our Airbnb host that no one ever wants to read:
“Did you leave a suitcase by chance?”
Clicking on the photo, I was horrified to see our new $200 suitcase sitting in the middle of the road. Horrified, I looked at my husband and shook my head. There was no way this was our suitcase. My husband loaded it into the trunk, right? Wrong. We hadn’t known it, but somehow, our suitcase was still sitting outside our car. And in all the organization and confidence, pulling forward as we left, we left our now valuable and lonely suitcase behind.
After pondering the situation, we bit the bullet and asked the Airbnb host to graciously ship us our suitcase back. We would pay the costs, of course, but that would save us another trek back across states. The irony of this situation is that we often don’t lose things when life is chaotic; we lose them when we think everything is handled. Sometimes, you don’t notice what’s missing until you’re already committed to the long way home and still have thousands of miles to go.
Finding Sacred Ground
Arriving home four hours past our arrival time, my husband and I were happy to be on solid ground. Yes, we were missing our suitcase, but this got me thinking: What does God teach us when the thing we forget becomes the thing we can’t stop thinking about? What happens when we think we have all of our ducks in a row, but are missing the ducks altogether?
Mistakes happen. Luggage gets left behind all the time. But I believe this little illustration can teach us three things, especially when we don’t realize what’s missing until we’re too far in to turn around.