Grazing Grace: Finders... and Keepers

A Valentine Story

By: Greg Lane

It was Valentine’s Day of 2019, and I had just sat down at the kitchen table to write checks for our monthly bills when I realized the checkbook was missing. So, I searched in all the regular places it could usually be found: on my desk, on the kitchen table and on top of the bookcase. Not finding it in any of those spots, I went to the only other place it could possibly be … my wife’s purse.

Her purse was hanging from the back of a chair at the kitchen table. I picked it up and began to rummage through it. Having searched seemingly every nook and cranny within the purse, I finally gave up the hunt, laid it on the table, and called out to my wife. She was in the back of the house. “Lisa, do you know where the checkbook is?” I asked. “Did you look in my purse?” she replied. “Yes, I just looked through it. It’s not in there,” I answered. I heard her footsteps coming down the hallway. She came to the kitchen table where I was standing, picked up her purse (the one I had just completely and thoroughly searched through) reached in, and pulled out the checkbook. As she handed it to me, there was just a slight note of irritation in her voice as she said, “You need to learn how to find things!” Without hesitation, and with a boyish grin upon my face, I replied, “I found you!”

If you’ve been married any length of time, a similar scenario has probably played out in your home. Men, we’ve just got to face the facts. We are not very good at finding things around the house. Women are just better at finding stuff! I don’t have a problem admitting it … my wife is a better “finder” than me … that’s why she’s “a keeper!”

But, there’s good news for all you married men out there. Proverbs 18:22 says, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.” Maybe we can’t find the checkbook, or the keys or our sunglasses, or a clean pair of socks, but one day we found something of greatest importance and value. We found our wives. And, in so doing, we received favor from the Lord.

So, maybe men aren’t great at finding things, but because our wives are, they complete us. They fill a void where we have a deficiency. They are strong in an area that we are weak. That’s the way God planned it on the day He made woman.

He saw Adam, alone in the garden, needing something more than just the beautiful Earth He had provided for him. Needing something more than just the animals that he ruled over. Needing something more than the job He had given him to do. God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

So, God put Adam to sleep with a little Heavenly anesthesia and performed surgery on him. He took a rib from Adam’s side and fashioned it into the form of a woman.

Now, just think about that for a moment. God took something OUT OF Adam and turned it into something that Adam needed. In essence, Adam became incomplete without the woman that God created. A piece of himself was missing. A void was created that could only be filled when the woman was by his side.

So, a man comes into this world searching for something that’s missing. Something that will fill that empty spot in his side. Something that will complete him. He spends days, weeks, months and even years trying to find that special someone who will take away the loneliness he felt when he was first created. He searches diligently until the day he finally finds her. He finds the woman God pulled out of his side. His search is finally over. But, her search has just begun as she searches for his keys, his sunglasses, his socks … and the ever-elusive checkbook.

Husbands, tell your wives today that they complete you. Tell them how much you need them and love them. Then, thank God for the favor He showed you when you finally found her. Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!