Smile-breaks
It was Lost and Then it was Found – But then I Lost it Again
I whooped and I hollered and I would’ve spun around right there in the tiny cramped office ’cept for the stack of boxes crowding around my knees. I was so relieved. It was right there.
It had been AWOL for a month and that was no laughing matter. I’d just discovered its disappearance two days ago when someone called to ask me where it was.
“Oh, it’s on its way,” I said. Then I quick scurried off to my office to confirm what I’d just said. No luck - it had disappeared, without a trace.
Two weeks later a second phone call sent me out for some serious scurrying. Where could it possibly be? Could it have fallen into the hands of the enemy?
Hardly. A nine thousand dollar check has no enemies.
There were complications. The check wasn’t alone when it went missing and I didn’t remember what other documents were with it when I put them all in the cubby hole to be signed or approved. It’s really hard to find something you don’t know what it is.
But suddenly this morning all was right with the world. Here were the check and two invoices and the other papers. The check was still unsigned; the invoices had no approving initials on them. I tucked them all into one of the file folders I was carrying and went off to get them signed.
You’re not going to believe this. I couldn’t believe it myself. I saw the guy who needed to sign the check and flagged him down. He was in a hurry and said he’d be back in a minute, so I pulled out the check to have it ready.
’Cept it wasn’t there. It wasn’t in the folder. I figured I must’ve put it in the wrong folder, so I carefully – no, actually frantically – went through all the folders looking for the darned check.
I went through them again, more carefully. No luck. Maybe I’d left it in the room where I’d found it. Put it on top of the file cabinet while I was giving that form to Julie. Or maybe I’d left it on the copy machine when I made those copies for Joe.
Boy, did I hustle out of there! You just don’t leave a nine thousand dollar check hanging around in a building full of kids and visitors and repairmen and who knows who all. I had to find it fast!
It wasn’t in either of those places. Oh no! Had I thrown it away with the junk mail? Had the janitor emptied the wastebaskets in the last five minutes? Whew! He hadn’t. I nonchalantly glanced through the contents of the wastebaskets. Kind’a embarrassing, that is – no matter how nonchalant you pretend to be.
The head honcho came along about then. I told him I couldn’t believe I’d just lost something I’d just found. He said the same thing happened to him about an hour ago. Said this paper he needed was on top of his desk in the middle of a mess of papers and then it wasn’t. Disappeared completely. I felt better.
We went off to find our missing children and less than two minutes later I screeched into his office with a smile that wouldn’t end.
“Wow! You must be my good luck charm – I found the check!” I almost hugged him. Didn’t. Should’ve.
I’d found the check stuck between two folders. When I lifted the top folder to go through its contents one more time, there it was! It was lost and then it was found.
Amazing grace, how sweet you are.