Keys, God, and a non-coincidence

I learned a lesson three years ago in Florida, and received a reminder tonight.

This last week has been really hard. A few expensive items have decided it's quittin time all at once. The pool pump was the first to go, followed by the refrigerator. Yesterday, I went to go meet Josh and my car wouldn't start.

My mom graciously offered up her Mini-Van, so this afternoon was spent picking it up. As I pulled in the driveway, Josh was frantically looking through his truck. The seats were both folded over and contents from the back seat were strewn about the driveway. Noticing I had arrived, he started towards me with a scowl on his face. His truck key had slipped off his key chain. He had looked everywhere.

Have I mentioned we only have ONE set of keys for each of our cars? I know, I know; not smart.

Ten minutes were spent searching, and then we had to get to t-ball practice. Consoling him that we would find it right when we got home, we reluctantly loaded into Jan's Van.

That didn't exactly happen.

Over an hour we again searched. He had only been in three places- the garage, the front lawn, and his truck- so it couldn't have gone far. As the minutes ticked by, though, I felt more and more hopeless that we would ever find that darn key.

Finally, as I sat in the garage, I said a prayer. "Lord, I know you know right where this key is. If it is your will that we find it, please show me where it is."

Crawling on my hands and knees on the front lawn, my eye caught the shining silver of the key head. Somehow the key shaft had spiked right into the ground and only the very top bow was showing.

I read somewhere a long time ago that every answered prayer can be contributed to a mere coincidence, if desired. I know that there was no coincidence in me finding that key tonight.

I am not sure why God is choosing to reaffirm answered prayers through impossible key hunts, but I am in awe of God's goodness. Not just because He answered my prayer tonight, but all the time. How incredibly blessed I am to have the life I have. To serve a God that listens and cares about something so trivial as finding a key.

Oh, and the best part of Kayden's day?


Watching my car being towed away. Go figure.