Hallelujah, We've Been Found

Hallelujah, we've been found

A child is born to save us now

Hallelujah, light is come

A Savior who will set us free

A promise for those who believe

-BarlowGirl

When I was eight years old I got mad at my parents and decided to run away from home. Apparently, I didn't think it through very much because the only thing I grabbed in my haste to leave our house was the newspaper. I found that to be a major mistake five minutes later when I'd exhausted the comics and the finance section couldn't keep my attention. But I stayed outside, huddled under a spruce, waiting for someone to come find me. I'd hoped my mom would stop doing the dishes and suddenly find me missing. I imagined that she might panic and then come rushing out of the house, calling my name. She'd call the neighbors and see if I'd gone to their houses, and get in the car to drive around the neighborhood. But none of that happened. (I probably should have chosen a better place to go if I'd wanted that sort of reaction. My spruce happened to be in view of our front room windows.)

I eventually went back inside and pouted because nobody had come to look for me. The truth is, I hadn't really wanted to run away from home. All I wanted was for someone to look for me. I just wanted to be found.

Not much has changed since then. When I'm in the middle of a big crowd of people, I want to be found. When I feel like people misunderstand me, I want to be found. I think part of why I always wanted a boyfriend when I was in high school was because I wanted to be found! At the heart of it all, I want to feel important and valuable to someone. After all, you only look for things when they're highly valuable to you. Nobody's gone looking for  a candy wrapper, but the second you lose your car keys everything else goes out the window. 

The truth is, even when I might feel like just another person in a crowd, I am important enough to warrant the world's biggest search party. And you are, too. 

I love Christmas, mostly because it forces me to remember that I've been found. I am valuable enough that I've been sought after, wooed, and rescued...even though I've run away. And in case you need the reminder as often as I do, you are also valuable enough that you're being sought after, wooed, and rescued too. 

 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." -Luke 15:4-7


Ashley Mays is the former Editorial Assistant for Brio and Brio & Beyond magazines and currently writes her own fiction for teens. She enjoys rock climbing, people watching in airports, and expanding her shoe collection. Ashley lives with her husband in Colorado. No, they don't ski. Learn more about Ashley on facebook or on her website: http://www.ashley-mays.com/.