To the One Who Has Lost Her Way

Dear friend,

I know you feel far from where you meant to be. I know you are looking at the distance between the person you intended to become and the one you seem to have become, and finding the gap larger than you expected.

But I want to say something carefully: lost is not the same as abandoned.

The lost sheep in the parable did not know it was being searched for. It was just lost — confused, separated, unable to find its way back. And while it wandered, the shepherd left the ninety-nine and came looking. Not sending a message. Not waiting for the sheep to find its own way. Coming.

You are not too far gone. You are not beyond the range of His searching. The fact that you feel lost is, in a way, a sign of life — the dead do not feel displaced. You still want to be found. That wanting is the beginning.

You do not have to find your own way back. You only have to be willing to be found.

He is already looking. He has already left the others to come for you. Somewhere in the distance, if you are still enough, you may hear the sound of someone calling.

Don't run from it.

With love, A fellow found person