Losing it!

So, we've been losing things in the Lochhead household.  I don't know why this surprises me--we're pretty NUTSO at this house.  One day last week we were even more nutso than usual...it was a day I decided to use a gift card someone had given me, and when checking out at the cash register, I couldn't find it.  I was SICK! Not just sick about losing the gift card:  I rubber-band all of my gift cards together in my purse, and the WHOLE STACK was gone.  I didn't panic at first, I just thought through the places I'd look to find them:  the car, the kids' toy box (it happens), the cupboard in the kitchen...  I prayed that God would help me find them--if he cared about a lost coin, I figure He cares about the small things in my life.  :)

Going on simultaneously, I had been using the extra set of keys for the van, because our others were misplaced.  Every time I'd needed them we were in a hurry, so I'd been using the extras for a few days.  I kept having great intentions to search all of my coat pockets and clean out my purse, but alas, it never became a priority--after all, the spares worked just fine.  

This all sets the stage for the next scene:  I am realizing it's time to get the hungry herd fed, so I open the fridge (how every good meal starts!) and start scanning for potential dinner inspiration.  But instead of inspiration, I found humor:

 Don't see it yet?  Look closely at the fruit drawer...

...VAN KEYS!!!  A very logical spot for a toddler to put these after he makes the van "honk" by locking it through the house/garage walls.  [Insert 2-year old maniacal laugh here.]

What cracked me up even more, is that I could almost hear God telling me:  See, you didn't even KNOW these were lost and I helped you find them.  Trust me with the gift cards.  :)

And the happy ending/misplaced goods MIRACLE concludes when I find the gift cards in my purse drawer at school.  I was on the phone with a parent when I found them and ended up telling them the whole story, I was so relieved.  :)  Ahhh, sometimes it takes losing it to remind you you never had it to begin with.  :)  Control is so hard to give up...

BTW:  My mother has amazing stories about finding desperately lost belongings--with God's help.  She found her WEDDING RING in the last scoop of junk being filtered out of the burn barrel...and found Grandma's bracelet while working in her garden...