I Locked My Keys in My Car

On Saturday morning (April 2^nd) Al and I headed over, in her car, to the University to take some pics for her graduation announcements. When we arrived I got out of the car and heard this strange hissing noise. After a moment of investigation I realized it was a leak in the back tire! After calling home my dad said we should try and get home, (unless we wanted to try and change the tire with the crummy jack supplied with the car.) The catch? You can’t drive on a flat tire, so we got to the nearest gas station and slightly over filled the tire before taking off for home. The whole way we eyed every gas station wondering if we should stop again. We did stop at one more and made it home. My dad then said he’d take care of the tire so we could go take the pictures. So we took my car and went over to the park. We took some nice pictures then headed back to the car. It was then that I realized I’d taken off my coat and had left it in the car… with the keys in the pocket! Along with both of our cell phones! Al then suggested walking to the nearest gas station so we could call home. At the gas station I spotted a pay phone on the outside of the building and wondered if they’d want to offer a free one inside so we ended up going to Ace Hardware where we found a free phone as well at free popcorn! Bets then came and picked us up and dropped us off at my car with my spare key. We then proceeded through the rest of our errands without further interruption.

In the past locking my keys in my car or such setbacks would have frustrated and humiliated me but on this day they excited me. The adventure of the unusual beckoned me to come exploring and the thrill of what the Lord might teach me through flat tires and locked keys made me giddy!

Who doesn’t have a plan going into their life? Whether we hold a death grip on that plan or not, it’s natural for us to have at least a loose idea of what we are doing or where we are going, based on what we’ve experienced thus far and seen in the lives of others. My sister and I had a plan on Saturday morning but the actual doing went nothing like what we thought it would. By the end of the day though we had accomplished everything we’d set out to do.

My life isn’t going anything like I thought it would when I was a teenager in high school. Would I trade though all this unexpected for my plan back then? Never! Because the unexpected opens up opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise get. Some days I do the very thing I set out to do and other day’s I lock my keys in my car, but both can be an exciting adventure, because the Lord is faithful, and at the end of the long day of life I will have accomplished everything He has placed in my heart to do.

We don’t get to choose how our lives will go, but we do get to choose who we will follow.