Lost and Found: Life Lessons from a Rogue Roomba

One of my favorite creature comforts—one of the modern conveniences I truly appreciate—is our Roomba.

I don’t enjoy vacuuming.

I like to cook. I don’t mind doing laundry. I don’t even mind washing windows on occasion. But vacuuming? No, thank you. So when my husband agreed to buy a Roomba to chase away the dust bunnies in our home, I was elated.

We call him Will. As in Will Smith… from the movie I, Robot. If you have a Roomba of your own, you know you named yours too. Just admit it.

My husband is the boss of Will. He has the app on his phone. He set it up, controls the schedule, and manages the map.

Will’s home base—his charger and bin—is near my desk, so I’m used to him running in and out of my office area throughout the day. He wakes up at 9 a.m. and goes to work, cleaning up after us. When he’s picked up all he can handle or starts running low on battery, he scurries back to his home to unload, rest, and recharge.

Twice a day, he cleans up around the litter box, and three times a week, he vacuums the entire house. It’s a big job for the little guy—sometimes taking him the better part of six hours. He’s been doing a fine job.

Until lately.

Lately, Will has been glitchy. I don’t know what happened to him. His little sweeper thingie quits spinning sometimes. He doesn’t seem to be getting all the stuff off the floor. Quite frankly, he’s been slacking on the job.

And then this morning, the unthinkable happened. My husband left the door to his office open—which he never does because Will is not allowed in there. Will snuck in while no one was looking, and that was the beginning of the end.

Will got lost.

He went in circles. He bumped into walls. He wandered around aimlessly, pausing in strange places, as if trying to regroup… but he was very lost. I watched helplessly from my desk as poor Will turned, whirled, paused, and tried again. He got close to his home base, then turned away and sat in a corner, seeming to have given up hope of ever finding his way back. Then he tried again. And failed again.

Finally, I’d had enough of this pitiful display. I picked him up from where he sat and put him back on his charger—his home base. 

And that’s when God seemed to get a chuckle out of the whole thing. He even pointed out that this was exactly how I’ve looked when I’ve wandered off course in my own life.

I’ve been lost. I’ve gone in circles and bumped into walls. I’ve wandered aimlessly, pausing in strange places. Why? Because a door was open, and instead of respecting the boundaries set by my Heavenly Father, I snuck in while no one was looking. And I got lost.

Have you been there? Have you finally found your way back?

Or were you like me—sitting in a corner, feeling hopeless—when Jesus picked you up and set you back on your home base to rest and recharge? Honestly, He probably did a factory reset on me.

The prodigal son is one example of the Father welcoming us back home, and at times, I’ve certainly identified with him. But this last time? It was more like the story of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to go after the one.

And He lifted me up, carried me home, and rejoiced.

“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? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’” (Luke 15:4-7)

Just because you get lost once in a while doesn’t mean you are forgotten.

Jesus will find you and carry you home.

Be blessed.