As soon as I awoke, it started. First, a phone call from my beloved, informing me that my van had a flat tire. Not a problem he said, just get Jake to haul the air compressor out front, put some air in it, drive the van over to Discount tire, and have them fix it (it should be under warranty).
That seemed like a decent solution, although I knew I would have to pawn the task off on Laurent because my back has been so bad lately that I can’t sit for more than a couple of minutes in any regular chair, and standing grows painful at about the five minute mark. I communicated the news to my minions, and all was well, until Jacob went to get the air compressor from the shed, for which he needed my keys.
Couldn’t. Find. The keys.
We looked high… (on the table, the bureau, the kitchen bar and counter, the silver shelves, the top of my dresser….)
We looked low… (under the couches and shelves and desks and beds and on the bottoms of closets….)
We looked here… (in drawers, laundry baskets, pants pockets, all the purses….)
We looked there……. (outside in the yard, in the puppy cage, out in the van under the seats, in the yard and driveway around the van, in the front cage on the floor and on the grain grinder table….)
We looked EVERY where.
Several times.
No keys! This was seriously problematic, not only because this key ring contains ALL the keys — the house, the front gate, the back gate padlock, the shed, the tool yard padlock, all three vehicles AND the cabin up at the ranch — but also because the girls had to go to work at 1:30, and Jacob, Geneva and I all had optometrist appointments that took quite a while to schedule, and it would be severely bad form to cancel a block of three appointments anyway.
We all prayed, I sought the intercession of St. Anthony, patron saint for the recovery of lost items, and we kept looking until the last minute. When it was clear they would not be found before we had to leave, we all bundled into Jimminy, the old van that the girls normally drive, and using Laurent’s keys, I dropped the girls off at the church, then went on to our appointment.
The appointment went swimmingly – and when I say that, what I really mean is a) Junior behaved himself like a champ, enjoyed having me read some unfamiliar kid books to him in the waiting room while Jake and Geneva had their exams, was quiet and well tempered when he went back with me for my eye exam, and generally made me a proud mama the entire time; and b) we got out of there having to purchase only 2 pr. of eyeglasses, and most of the expense came from my annoying bifocals – but for the low-low price of $254 total, I felt like I wanted to fairly run for the door lest they find their mistake and add another $300 to my bill!!
Needless to say, I was thankful for that good news as we drove home, and furthermore, for the good stiff breeze blowing, which made our open-windowed journey unexpectedly pleasant. It was a balm for our hearts, which had just received some sad news, and while I wont go into details, I do beg your prayers for this intention for our family.
It was nearly 4:30 when we arrived back home again, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I would need to run back to church to pick up the girls; I relaxed in my recliner for about a half hour, and then got another call from my honey. He’d found out he would not be needing to attend RCIA tonight, so he said he would go by the church on his way home and just spend some time in prayer until the girls got finished and then bring them home.
That gave me the opportunity to set a supper plan in motion so that we could sit around the table as a family for dinner. We enjoyed a lovely time of fellowship, and then chores were undertaken and there was a little time for Junior to go outside in our very small back yard and kick the soccer ball around with his siblings.
I was sitting in my chair again in the bedroom when a triumphant parade of offspring came trooping in, led by Junior who held aloft my keys! Apparently Megan had kicked the ball a little too high, and it went up on the roof, then rolled down into the enclosure on the side of the house where we keep heavier equipment locked away behind a gate. As Junior stood by the gate, watching through the chain link fence as the ball rolled down to the ground, his eyes fell upon my keys, clipped onto the fence. I never did quite get the back story on WHY my keys were clipped to the back fence, only that Laurent sheepishly admitted responsibility.
At any rate, I was very, very, very delighted and thankful for that “serendipitous” sequence of events that led to the discovery, and sent up a thankyou to the Lord for hearing all of our prayers.
Scripture of the day:
Matthew 7:7
7 “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”
outandin
28 Apr 2015Oh, I know those feels. Lost keys, lost glasses, lost checkbook . . . I have found also, that when I finally remember to pray about it, I usually find the lost item very quickly–sometimes in a place where I had looked multiple times! So glad you found your keys!
paulyho39
28 Apr 2015Yes…so glad for Junior and his “good eyes”! I spent a good part of the day trying to work through WHERE they could have been put, WHO might have had them last, and saying over and over, “They have to be here somewhere…they wouldn’t take up legs and walk away!” (An old phrase I was wont to use often with my kids in the past!) Unbelievably, as Nettie said, they did, in a way, “take up legs…”, Laurent’s legs! All’s well that ends well, eh?
amoiesu
28 Apr 2015So glad things worked out!