Trust The Journey - Written March 24, 2025 - Published March 26, 2025

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see …”  

This song stops me in my tracks every time I hear it, without fail.  It brings me to an immediate halt before the first words are uttered.  I hear the first note or two and immediately I am overcome with emotions stirring deep within my soul.  It brings to mind the old game show, Name That Tune, my mom was an absolute phenom at that game and that memory always makes me smile!  With this particular song, I believe I could name that tune in one note!

This post is not going to be about the song, or the abundance of emotions, both joyful and heartbroken, that accompany it.  Rather, it is going to focus on one word in the first verse, “lost.”  “I once was lost, but now I’m found” is such a profound line. I remember well, being lost and stumbling about through life, making one more poor decision after another. There were good decisions peppered in there as well, like stumbling into a church called Believers Fellowship, meeting some amazing people and really getting to know and seek God for the first time.  It was during my time there that I truly accepted God as my Lord and Savior and began a new life in Him.  I continued to stumble on and off over the years to follow (and I still do!!), but never did I stumble alone for I was no longer lost but found.

This brings me to an item that I recently lost.  On February 1, 2025, I had the pleasure of going to a craft show with a dear friend.  So many pretty things to see, but what caught my eye was a cork bracelet with a magnetic clasp and the words, “Trust the Journey” printed on it.  I admired both the unique style of the bracelet and the words it shared.  I thought it represented simple beauty in a distinctive and understated way.  The words held special meaning for me as well because I often refer to the events of this past year, since losing my husband of 30 plus years to cancer, as being my journey through grief and healing. It was my trust in God that has escorted me along the journey and, thankfully, continues to do so.  Without God, I would be completely and utterly lost.

I admired the bracelet and wore it for exactly one day until I lost it, presumably forever, on February 2nd.  I knew roughly where it had fallen off and I searched high and low to no avail.  Though bummed, I eventually gave up and carried on without it. (Here it is safe to imagine me walking along slowly, sulking, head and shoulders down, hands in my pants pockets, kicking the dirt with every exaggerated step, accompanied by a chorus of loud sighs … Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.)  So much for trusting the journey!  I guess that bracelet was meant to bless someone else. (more grumbling)

Fast forward to March 23rd when, in the exact area that I had scoured nearly 2 months earlier, I found the missing bracelet.  I was not looking for it, in fact it was no longer a thought in my mind.  It was long since written off as lost forever, yet there it was, as if waiting for me.  It had been outside in the elements all this time and it showed through visible wear and tear of the cork and tarnish to the clasp. I’m partial to all things rustic so to me this aged appearance only enhanced its simple beauty. It brought to mind my journey through life, how I have on/off lost my way, and how my mind, body, face, thoughts and spirit show wear and tear from life’s experiences, both good and bad, leaving me a bit more “rustic" in appearance but none the worse for wear.  My favorite quote from the movie, Shawshank Redemption just popped into my mind, “...He came out clean on the other side.”  I am a little tarnished and weathered but in God, I am no longer lost, I have been found and washed clean.

What really struck me was not the randomness of glancing down and finding the lost bracelet, but the timing of when I found it.  It all goes back to God’s perfect timing.  The written sentiment on the bracelet, Trust the Journey, has greater meaning to me now.  Now that I finally started the blog that I long felt led to do, but so actively dragged my feet on, now that I am just days from crossing the threshold of the one-year mark of Dave’s passing, now that I have grown closer to God.  Trust the Journey speaks volumes to me (I personally cannot stand that phrase, but it seems to fit perfectly here so, I will allow it.) and serves as a reminder to me that grief is a journey not a final destination.  It also reminds me that God’s plan and His timing, though sometimes confusing and/or not in line with my plans, is to be trusted.  He is with me on my journey, He guides, encourages and steers us, and by trusting in Him we are trusting in the journey and no longer lost.  I am thankful to have found the bracelet when I did, for its weathered appearance and for the reminder it holds to Trust the Journey and that all who are lost can yet be found.

Bible Verses that came to mind when writing this were two parables from Luke:

Luke 15:4-7 NIV

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Luke 15:8-10 NIV

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”