My Story of Being Lost One Time As A Child...

I do not remember ever getting lost as a child but I must have gotten lost at least once when I was probably about three years old.  I have heard this story a number of times about something that I did  but I don’t honestly remember it happening.

When this happened, I could not have been older than three because this incident happened during the time our family lived on my Great-Grandmother’s farm near Viroqua, WI.  We moved from that farm to another farm just before I had my fourth birthday.  

As I write this story, a few parts are facts and other parts are “probably” the what and why of this story.

I must have been an active toddler who loved being outdoors.  Apparently, one warm, beautiful day I decided to explore beyond the yard of our house and our farm buildings.  A paved road stretched along the front of our farm’s buildings.  The photo below shows me standing beside the paved road years later with my Great-Grandmother’s farm behind me.

 Alongside our farm, above the buildings, was a gravel road which led from the paved road to some of the fields of our farm as well as to another farm beyond our property.  It also led to an area known as the Maple Sugar Grove.  This was a working Maple Sap producing grove.  My father and mother spent time during each spring with the work of collecting the sap of the maple trees and getting maple syrup made.  They did some of their courting in that Maple Grove before their June wedding in 1941.

My Dad, James Groves, above and my Mom, Edna Matson, below are shone on a “date”in the Sugar Maple Grove.

For some reason, there was a day when I decided to explore along the gravel road.  Maybe it was spring and my parents were at the Maple Grove while I and my three siblings napped with our Great-Grandmother watching us.  Maybe I woke up early and went looking for my parents or maybe I just decided to roam on my own and wasn’t worried about any possible consequences of hiking on the gravel road.  I don’t know what made me decide to hike away from the house that day on my own.  It may have been that I couldn’t fall asleep for a nap and decided to get out of bed and go on a stroll.  If this was the reason, it may help explain what I did as I walked along that road which could have resulted in a tragedy.  I guess I was lost and didn’t know where I was but got very sleepy so decided to lie down and take a nap somewhere along the gravel road.  Apparently there I had no trouble falling asleep.  While I slept, a truck, probably the milk truck that picked up cans of milk from these dairy farms, turned onto the gravel road and drove past me in order to get to the farm at the end of that road, apparently without noticing me.

The photo below was taken from the gravel road looking toward the farm buildings which border the paved road and are in the corner where the gravel road meets the paved road.

I do not know who was the first to notice that I was not where I was supposed to be or who went looking and found me or how long I slept on that bed of gravel but I remember that when this story was told, there was always praise for my protection “because a truck had come and gone on the road while I slept there.”  

That is my story about getting lost once when I was a child.  

It has reminded me of a story Jesus told in Luke 15: 4-7…
“Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.”

How grateful I am that someone searched for and found me when I was a young child before I was seriously hurt or traumatized.  I am also very grateful for my parents and others who shared the Bible’s stories that led to my being “found” and rescued from my “lost” condition as someone without Jesus.  I know it was God who protected me as a child and God who called me into His family as I grew a few years older and was able to understand my need to repent and receive His forgiveness through faith.  

The picture below was taken where that gravel road breaks away from the paved road.  This lane is now named for our family.  I am in the middle between my brother, Jim and my sister, Margelyn.

The Maple Sugar Bush Grove continues to flourish under the ownership of Dan Badtke at S-4953 Groves Ln, Viroqua, WI 54665.  His maple syrup is also delicious.