My husband and I were traveling through Huntsville on our way home from a wedding, and from miles away I spotted the tip of the rocket, the really tall white rocket (Saturn V) that makes its home at the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center.

I was looking for it.

You see, we lived away from Huntsville for twelve years, and when we moved back to the area, the rocket became a symbol of home. Each time I spot it from the interstate, a kind of peace washes over me. (There is, after all, no place like home!)

Since we were still so far away from the rocket, it seemed unlikely that I actually saw it, but it turned out to be the rocket! I hit me that I saw it because I was looking for it.

That made me think about the things we look for, search for, in this journey with a prodigal. Are we looking for the things of God, or are we looking for what bad thing has happened or will happen next? Bad things do happen often in life when we love a prodigal, but there are more good things than bad, because we have God.

When we look for the things of God, we’re more likely to see them.

Seeing the rocket makes me feel like I’m home. Seeing God-things in the lives of prodigals I love makes my faith grow and become stronger. When I see God-things, I know my miracles are on the way, and 2 Corinthians 5:7 becomes more and more my way of life: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

We can’t ignore the bad things, but we can work to focus more and more on who God is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He promised to do! And that makes all the difference!