Lost and Found

Lost and Found

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.

Does he not 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 shoulder and goes home.

Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,

"Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep.

Luke 15:4-7

I am an adopted child, a fact that I have known since before I could understand what it meant.  My adoptive parents let me know from the very beginning that I was their special, chosen child.  When I grew into adulthood, however, I began to wonder exactly who my birth parents were.  They were "lost" to me, and I had no idea how to find them.  When my adoptive parents died, I discovered my first clue to this mystery:  an old, yellowed copy of the legal notice that was printed at the time of my adoption listing my birth parents' names, and my father's military rank.

One would think that would make the search a slam-dunk, but that is far from the truth.  I had no idea where to start.  Then Ancestry.com came into being, and I began a years-long search for my mother and father.  Reams of paper and hundreds of notes later, I was no closer to finding what was lost. When Ancestry's DNA test became available, I took advantage of that resource as well. It turned up a 3rd cousin in Michigan and a 3rd cousin in Alaska, both from my mother's side.

Then one morning a couple years ago, I opened Ancestry to renew my search, and decided to check my DNA matches.  Imagine my shock and delight to find a new listing for a first cousin on my father's side.  A quick hop onto his family tree and, voila!  I felt like shouting from the housetops:

  

Rejoice with me!  I have found my dad!

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Amazing grace!  

How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come.

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 378