Annie! Max! Can you come down please?”
“Coming, mommy!” Annie and Max quickly stopped colouring and made their way downstairs.
They walked into the kitchen and noticed their mother had taken almost everything out of her purse onto the table.
“Sweet peas, I need your help, I’ve misplaced the little green bag where I keep all the coins for laundry, and I don’t remember where I left it.”
“We’ll help you find it mommy!” said Max excited, he loved looking for things because it made him feel like a detective.
Mother smiled, “Thank you my loves, I’ll finish checking in here and then in the living room, and you both can look upstairs.”
Annie and Max made their way upstairs. They looked under the beds, under the pillows, in the bathroom, in the hallway closets. After about twenty minutes of looking, they became quite tired.
“This is harder than I thought” said Max as he sat on the carpeted floor.
“Yes Maxy, but we can’t stop looking, they must be here somewhere; did you check mother’s room?”
“No, I thought you had checked it.” They both looked towards mother’s room.
“Then I guess there is only one more place those coins could be” Annie said as she walked into mother’s room. Max followed, when suddenly he felt something under his foot; he had stepped on a little green coin bag hidden almost under their mother’s bed.
“Annie! Annie! Look, I found it!” Max yelled excitedly.
“Maxy! Good job! Mother will be so happy!” Happily they hurried to tell mother. They found her looking under one of the couches in the living room.
“Mother! Mother! We found your coin bag!” they both shouted happily as Max held it up.
Mother smiled, “Thank you, my darlings! I must have dropped it when I was bringing the laundry down; let’s go drink some lemonade while I tell you about a small parable Jesus once spoke about.” Annie and Max smiled and nodded as they followed mother into the kitchen.
As they drank their lemonade, mother opened her Bible to Luke 15:8–10. “This is the story about a woman who had ten coins but lost one. When she realized one was missing, she lit a lamp and searched everywhere for that one coin. She didn’t give up until she finally found it. It must have taken her quite a while because when she finally found the coin, she was so happy she called her neighbours and friends to celebrate with her because the coin that was once lost, was now found.”
“Just like what happened to us” said Annie.
“Wait” said Max as he scratched his head, “I don’t understand. Why was that one coin so important to her when she had nine other coins?”
“Very good question” replied Mother, “you see, what Jesus was trying to teach us is that each coin symbolizes each one of us, and that the woman in the parable represents Him. We are all important to God. He wants to save each one of us, and He will do the impossible to find us, even if it’s just one person lost. Once He finds those who are lost, every heavenly spiritual being will celebrate. Isn’t it wonderful to know how important and valuable we are to God?”
“Oh yes, I understand now” responded Max smiling.