Locked OUT!

Have you ever gotten in your car, felted in your pockets, and realized you left your keys in the house?  I have many stories, my husband could share, about loosing my keys.  Once I lost them in K-Mart.  I found them in a shoe box in the shoe department.  Long story.  LOL  I've locked myself out of a truck.  Short version.....I was in Crossville.  Robert was in Niota.  Robert's comment after an hour drive.  "Sure is a long way to unlock a door." 

Over the past 15 years I've done much better.  Hahaha That is until Friday.  I was in the morning rush of getting out the door to take my son to school.  My car/house keys were sitting on the kitchen counter.  I go in the kitchen to get them.  Todd, our youngest, digs into his backpack to give me, what appeared to be, a bag of rocks.  I said, "Todd this isn't the time to give me..." And then it happened. The bag had a hole.  EVERYWHERE went the contents of this bag.  Then I discovered it wasn't rocks... it was cereal.  Some kind of Chex like cereal.  Todd gets a paper out with instructions.  "Here Mom, we might want to make this later."  LOL LOL LOL

Todd makes a "Todd effort" to sweep up the rocks, aka cereal, as I leave the kitchen and proceed to go downstairs and head for the car.  Todd runs to catch up. Door is slammed shut, we get in the car, I check for my keys, and....... you guest it.  I left the keys on the kitchen counter.  No need for panic.  We have a spare key in a certain place.  Did I mention it was 22 degrees outside? I went to our hiding place and .... the stinkin key was not there.  "Stinkin" is Greek for "Dad burn".

Now this was about the time I wanted to tell Jesus how much I was grateful for this day and how much I loved my family.  Especially whoever it was that used the key last and didn't put it back.  I sent Todd to look at a couple of other places.  Is it just my boys?  But do all boys not open their eyes when they look for things?  NO key.  Did I say it was 22 degrees outside?

I walked around the house hoping that one of the doors was irresponsibly left unlocked.  Why is it that when you want a door to be left unlocked....they are always locked up tight?  As I walked around the house, I began to pray.  "Lord, I need your help.  I am locked out of the house.  I can not start my car.  It's cold.  I need to take Todd to school.  It's very cold.  I need to attend a water aerobic class.  I need my keys that are in the house.  Help me find a way in the house." 

I told Todd to get back in the car.  The car was just as cold as being outside.  22 degrees is pretty cold.  The time is now 7:35 a.m.  I walk across my yard, through the woods, and in between fence posts to a neighbors house.  I had hoped that maybe they would be able to help.

Any other day I could have called my husband, Robert.  He would have just left for work just as we walked out to my car.  But on this day he was on a business trip, in another state.  I have a friend who has a key to my house, but she and her husband was on a couple's retreat.  What was my friend thinking?  :)  My daughter has a key.  She lives 1 1/2 hours away.  Todd and I were left to freeze.  Probably to death.

I called my husband and hoped that he would let me know of another secret key.  My fingers were getting frost bitten.  Robert had no idea about the key.  He insisted that I just need to look again.  And this time look underneath our spot.  Just get down on the ground.  I reminded him, "There's NO way I can get on the ground.  If I did how in the world could I get up."  I would die laying on the ground...frozen.  It was 22 degrees. 

If I sent Todd to look around, under, or on the ground, I knew I had better odds to send a blind man to search for our spare key.  The neighbor was so sweet.  While her husband was in the shower, while her 19 year old son was still in bed, she came over and said she would look for me.  God love her.  As we both walked back  the between the fence , through the woods, across the yard, she said, "It's really cold out here."  LOL

That dear lady got down on the ground.  She looked, felt, and crawled around.  Then she victoriously yelled, "Is this the key?"  Woohoo!!!! YES!  Thank you Lord.  She even opened the door for me.  I thanked her at least a million times.  Finally the 35 minute freeze was over.

I went straight to the kitchen and there the keys laid.  They were the prettiest "stinkin" keys I had ever seen.