As the mother of a child in primary school, I frequently find myself engaged in the exercise of searching for lost hats, bags and drink bottles.

Sometimes I meet other mums looking for stuff. We get there early and rifle through the overflowing boxes, shaking our heads in despair and exchanging knowing smiles.

I search each musty lost property box thoroughly, each time going through piles and piles of unwanted and unloved stuff in the hope of finding the thing which is missing. 

Sometimes I even have to make my way through to the opposite side of the playground and look in a different box.

Last week, I found two hats belonging to the Lau family. It gave me great pleasure to return these to their owners.

The joy when an item is found is truly unspeakable! Isaac's hat was in the library, it wasn’t even in the box at all and I found his drink bottle too. Bonus!!

As I reflect on finding lost items, I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Luke 15 when he speaks about the woman who lost one silver coin.

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Luke 15:8-10