Lessons From the Edge

Don't worry. Don't cast blame. Just Pray!

When something goes wrong, it's often our first inclination to worry and/or cast blame, isn't it?
Last week I took a group of residents to the mall - some who wanted to walk around, and some who wanted to shop. I was escorting one man to a couple of stores while a few others sat down to rest. And then I got a phone call.
"Karen, we lost M."
What???
"We told her we'd be right back, and when we got back, she was gone."
I went over to where B and C were and they explained that M was sitting 'right here' and they just went into a store for a minute. But when they got back, she was no longer there.
I said, "OK. God knows where she is. Let's pray, and then let's walk around and look for her." So the three of us joined hands and prayed - asking God to protect M, and asking Him to lead us to her. A security officer "just happened" to be walking toward us, so we told him about our missing companion. Then B went one way, and C and I went the other.

As C and I walked and looked, she said over and over again, "I should have stayed with her. I shouldn't have left her alone!" She was taking responsibility for M's M.I.A. status, and I could tell she was feeling badly. I tried to reassure C that it wasn't her fault. But she kept blaming herself.
Finally I took her hand and said, "Don't worry. Don't cast blame. Just Pray!" And I reminded her God would take care of our circumstance.
A few minutes later, we saw M walking out of a store and heading toward the bench where she'd been sitting.
I called B and the security officer to let everyone know we had M back. She'd just seen a shirt she liked and went into the store to purchase it. She wasn't lost. Wasn't scared. Wasn't worried. The circumstance wasn't the big fiasco the rest of us had assumed.

How often is that true of the things about which we worry? They usually aren't such a big deal, are they?! Really no need for us to blame someone for the way things are going, is there?!

May we all learn well this Lesson from the Edge: Don't worry. Don't cast blame. Just Pray!