The keys

(Warning: LONG STORY....but I just had to document it - for my sake!)

Here's the story....we had to take the van to get the brakes fixed last week. Thursday to be exact. Matt met me at the repair shop and after leaving the van we drove home in the Honda. The van was done later that day, we went to pick it up, we both got home safe, and all was well. UNTIL....we realized a little while after we got home that my set of keys was missing. UGH! Hate that. So we did the normal search in the normal places. Nothing. We called the repair shop. Nothing. We retraced our steps again, and again. Nada. After about 1 hour of looking, I went back up to the car repair shop (in tears) and searched the parking lot and two other lots next door. I even drove home VERY SLOWY (which included State Street and Winchester!) and scanned the streets for the keys. They just HAD to be somewhere between the car shop and our house! But....NOTHING! I was sooooo bugged. I hate losing stuff.

In the mean time I said a few prayers. Matt said a few prayers. The kids even said a few prayers. We needed those keys back! There were a few that could be replaced easily, but some not. Our only working mail key (worth $40 - to get re-keyed), the van button key (worth $$$), my church keys, etc. Luckily we had a second van key and my mom had an extra house key and such....so we could get by for a while.

The day after my keys went missing I went to the gym. I had to show them my ID because I didn't have my bar code tag that was on my (missing) keys! I asked the guy at the front desk if someone were to find my keys, could they call in to the gym and get my information (I was worried about some crazy person figuring out where we lived and breaking in and/or stealing the cars!)...and he assured me that they would not give out information like that over the phone - even if the person was just trying to find the owner(s) of the keys! Good and bad news. He did, however, say that they get keys turned in all the time, even ones that were found at random places like the grocery store, just because they see the gym bar code tag! A long shot....right?

Well...last night I made a list of a few of the gyms in the area that I could call and see if my keys had turned up. (I was NOT giving up yet!) I decided to wait to do my phone calls later in the day when we weren't running around crazy trying to get out of the door. I drop Sam off, Tyler gets picked up, and Lilly and I are on our way to the gym. I get out my ID to show the front desk guy, once again. I figure I might as well just ask and see if they had any keys turned in. They bring out a fairly large box of keys - and I'm thinking "how could there be THIS many people missing their keys and NOT checking at the front desk????" So I start looking for my orange carabiner...and I think I see it! No, not my keys. The girl who handed me the box says, "oh, an orange carabiner? I think I saw some under here.....(reaching under the desk, not in the main box of keys)....." and VOILA!!!! There are my keys! My jaw dropped to the ground and I start to chuckle because the keys are TOTALLY MANGLED!!! They look like they had been run over about 48 times, and they probably had been run over 48 times! The carabiner was crooked, the van button thing was in two pieces (and the important "insides" were missing), my pocket knife was naked, my gym tag had holes in it, etc.....but THERE WERE MY KEYS!!!! The front desk guy and the front desk girl are looking at my like I'm crazy because I just couldn't believe my eyes. Those magical keys had to have been found MILES from where this gym was....but somehow, someway, the wonderful person who found them just happened to turn them in to the gym that I go to!!!???!!!! I briefly told the front desk duo why I was sooooo amazed and the girl said, "you must be living right!" I'm not 100% certain of that....but I can at least TRY! :)

So I realize that this post is extremely lllllooooonnnnggggg....especially for a random little story! But I just had to write it down as a reminder to me that prayer really does work...for BIG things and for little things like lost keys!!!!