The "Missing Hip Boot"

My family consists of me, my wife, my 9 year old son and my 7 year old daughter.  We also have two Labrador retrievers.  When I interact with each of them one on one, things usually run smoothly around my home.  When all of these characters interact with each other at the same time, things tend to get a little crazy.  Such was the case of the “missing hip boot”.

My son has wanted to start duck hunting with me this year.  In order to wade through the marsh to get to our hunting spot, he needed a pair of hip boots.  My friend Douglas had a brand new pair and he wanted my little boy to have them.  One afternoon he sent me a text saying that he left them under our picnic shed.

Here’s where the problem began.  Maggie (our lab puppy) is a kleptomaniac.  She will steal anything you lay on the ground in a matter of seconds and hide it.  When we walked outside to get the boots, one was lying under the shed and the other one was missing.  The chaos began!  We all walked around our farm looking everywhere for this missing hip boot.  We searched under the tractor, down by the garden, around the pond.  This boot was nowhere to be found.

The next morning I even road my 4 wheeler down the creek bank to see where she might have hidden it.  After 45 minutes I decided to give up the search.  I assumed Maggie hid it away for future chewing.  Then the craziest thing happened.  As I was parking my 4 wheeler, I looked up and saw the Hip boot hanging from a nail underneath the shed.  If I had only looked up in the beginning I would have found it in a matter of seconds.

Many times we are the same way in our own daily lives.  We have so many needs that we spend all of our time worrying.  We try to achieve them on our own.  We are looking down for them and not looking up for the answer.  In Matthew 7 Jesus tells us simply to just ask for what we need.  In other words, all we have to do is look up and God will take care of the rest.  It really is that simple.

Today, whether it is an exam, a job, money or just day to day needs, ask God for guidance and supplication.  Turn your requests over to our Father.  In doing so, you will see God work in many amazing ways.