I received word today that Shawn was released from the Miami-Dade Correctional Facility on Monday. He has a new court date now scheduled for February. My immediate thought was that he didn’t get my letter. Then I thought of the Pastor friend from Miami that was going to go visit him this week. We missed it. We had a very small chance to get to him and we missed it. The “system” let us down. They released a man that was to be held on a crime because they were too crowded to hold him. The facility is filled with too many others with far worse crimes.

From an update perspective, this makes things much more difficult. Finding Shawn on the streets of Miami from Columbus, Ohio will be next to impossible. I won’t give up the pursuit but the area of focus just became very, very large. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I sorry I tried? No.

Because God sent someone to look for me more than once too.

One thing I have learned over and over and over again in this life is that it’s about stepping into opportunities. I entered this search believing beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would find Shawn. Did we succeed? No. Yet life isn’t always going to produce success. Life is meant to be leaned into. Opportunities are meant to be seized. Bob Goff said it like this.

“…I want someone else’s suffering to matter more to me. I want to slug it out where I can make a meaningful difference. God says He wants us to battle injustice, to look out for orphans and widows, to give sacrificially. And anyone who gets distracted with the minutiae of this point or that opinion is tagging out of the real skirmish. God wants us to get some skin in the game and to help make a tangible difference. I can’t make a real need matter to me by listening to a story, visiting a website, collecting information, or wearing a bracelet.” (Love Does)

I will continue the search for Shawn because people never gave up on me. I want his brokenness to matter to me. I’m not tagging out. I’m leaning in even further. If you read this and you’ve recently faced a disappointment, don’t give up. God may be sending someone to look for you too. Our situations don’t have to be as desperate as Shawn’s. Each of us face a struggle and I believe beyond a shadow of doubt that someone is looking for us too. If you’re that one, don’t quit looking. If you’re the one struggling, don’t quit waiting.

Don’t tag out. Tomorrow is another day.