We have lost things before...but tonight was perhaps our most emotional loss: a brand new souvenir from Chicago--a white Lego Ninja--has disappeared.
P insists he knows "exactly" where he left it before school this morning, but in the true spirit of a ninja it is hiding somewhere so secret that a four person crew searching for a solid 45 minutes could not find it. We went to great lengths...emptying every toy basket and bucket, cleaning out every upstairs bedroom and playroom drawer, sifting through every toy in a desperate attempt to recover the lost ninja.
P was very tearful. R was determined to be his brother's hero. K was compassionate--patting him on the shoulder and telling P how sorry she was for his loss. It was a sweet picture of sibling empathy and love.
After a top to bottom search (twice) I told the children it was time for bed. We would have to try again in the morning. Then the real tears began. I acknowledged how sad I knew P's heart was, then assured him it would turn up.
"How do you know?" he cried, "You can't say that for sure. You are not PSYCHIC, Mom."
"You are right, but I have lived a lot of years," I responded.
As I was tucking the children in I shared the parable of the lost coin--adding that the way we would feel when we found the ninja was akin to how heaven rejoices when someone starts a relationship with Jesus. I (mistakenly) thought this might resonate with them in light of their experience.
P sniffed and looked up at me.
"But, Mom, this was not a coin or even just a plain Lego block. This was a Ninjago on a spinner with a numchuk--and it is still missing!"
So we prayed and tomorrow we will search again. And when we do find it we will have another lesson...this time about the importance of putting important things away where they belong.
3 comments:
Hard to beat a numchuk! Now my wheels are turning trying to think like a little boy putting something where he'd be sure to remember.
If it's anything like our house, that Ninja is nowhere related to toys. Perhaps it is in a silverware drawer, tucked inside a little shoe, somewhere in the bathroom. We all lay things down in the oddest places.
I hope P's new toy shows up soon.
We did this over the weekend about a squinkie. Aidan insisted he had seen the purple pig roll away from him in the garage while he got his shoes on. I later found it on the floor in his sister's room, behind her rocking chair. Go. Figure. The kids weren't convinced about the parable either.
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