Thursday, February 10, 2011

My time is in his hands

Richard has been out of town the last two weekends.  While he was gone, I became afraid.  I wasn't afraid of robbers or something happening to one of the kids.  I was afraid of locking myself out of the house.  I became OCD about making sure I had the keys at all times.  Sometimes when I would go to meet Will at the bus stop, I took two sets of keys just to be sure I could get back in.
Last Friday when I had my Mom's In Touch group over I asked them to pray that I wouldn't get locked out of the house.  One of them asked, "Why don't you give your neighbors a key?"  Then they told me about all the people who had keys to their houses "just in case".  I thought that was a great idea so when Richard got back, he went to Lowe's and had five extra keys made.  Whew!  I didn't have to worry about getting locked out anymore!

Today when Richard asked me what I was going to do with my time, I said, "Oh, I have lots to do, but my time is in His hands." (I had just read-- My times are in your hands. Ps 31:15--earlier that morning.)  
I started my day by finishing painting the kitchen (Yea!).  Then I began the clean up.  I swept, wiped, and gathered my supplies.  Then I went to put the paint can out on the back porch.  Our little 12 pound dog heard the door open.  She thinks she has to go outside every time anyone else does, but I wasn't really going outside.  I was just setting the paint can on the porch so I didn't let her out and I didn't close the door all the way.  As I turned back to go inside, the dog lunged at the door and closed.  And YES IT WAS LOCKED!  I was locked outside with no shoes, no coat, and dressed in a paint shirt!  The five new keys were no help at all because they were sitting in the kitchen.  With the temperature just above freezing and a light dusting of snow on the ground I had to go for help.  I couldn't afford to be prideful or try to figure things out on my own OR I WOULD FREEZE.  I couldn't even go the two blocks to my friend's house because I didn't have shoes.  I ran to four nearby houses before I found someone who was home.   It happened to be a neighbor I had never met.  I quickly introduced myself and asked if I could come inside and use his phone.  He let me in and we had a nice visit while I waited for Richard to come home.  My neighbor kept asking if I wanted to borrow some shoes :-)  
SO, I guess today, meeting my neighbor was more important than shopping for Valentines Day or cleaning the bathrooms.  What adventure does God have in store for you today?

1 comment:

Kelly said...

Here's another possible solution - Schlage deadbolt with keypad that you use instead of a key. (And it does accept a traditional key too.) Compatible with all our other Schlage locks.

When David got a car that does not require an ignition key (just keep the fob in your pocket and the car will sense it) - he simply could not be bothered with a key for the house. That's my Gadget Boy. So he installed this. Not terribly attractive, but I've gotten used to it.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202255167/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053