Luke 15:9--My version

And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'

Okay, so maybe her story really went something like this:

We've had to get in the habit of locking our bedroom door when we're out of the house & there are children home alone here (don't worry, they're "old enough" to be on their own...). So last night, I had to bring one child away to Taekwondo class; since I was going to be away and someone was going to be "home" I locked the door and slipped the skeleton key into my pocket to take with me. I then came home, picked up another child and went off to the BJ Haan for Ascension Day worship services. (Mark was on his way back from a day in DesMoines for work.) While at church, I was asked to watch three young children, since their parents were both on praise team. No problem, I can do that!

Church was okay--but I was shot back to the reality of small kids in worship and how I don't really get or contribute much to said service. So after church, I gathered up my own children and headed home.

Mark arrived soon after we did, so timing was perfect. However, I had forgotten to give the youngest a check for Taekwondo class--off Mark went to drop off the check, just what he wanted to do after a long day on the road and in meetings! While he was gone, I realized with a sinking feeling that I had succeeded in LOSING THE KEY TO OUR SAFE HAVEN, aka our bedroom! As my kids are beginning to wonder where dad and I will be bunking out for the night (and so am I), I thought hopefully that the key might have slipped out of my pocket in the van (which Mark currently had) so waited until he got home, in the meanwhile cleverly thinking that I can just remove the pins from the hinges on the door and gain access that way. So I did. I couldn't get the door off, though. Oh well, again, I'll just wait for my muscle man to get home. When he did, I sheepishly admitted what I had done, and went to look in the van for the stray key. No dice.

Mark started working on the de-hinged door with various and sundry tools. Meanwhile also making a discovery: the hinges on the jamb side were blocking the removal of the door! We were stuck!

I got on the phone to a friend who gave me campus security's phone number to see if I could get into the BJ Haan after hours as it was getting to be. I called, yes, the young man could meet me there. So here I am, in the dark, with a young man I've never met who's armed with a flashlight, skulking around the BJ Haan hoping against hope that I correctly remember where I sat and that the key is wedged between the cushion and the back of the seat. The first bench I tried yielded nothing, so I CLIMBED over the back of it to the bench behind (remember, I'm in the dark with a stranger holding a flashlight, not much help, really) and FOUND THE KEY!!!! YAY!!!! I called Mark at home with the joyous news, and by the time I got home, he had the door reassembled to the point of trying the key. IT WOULDN'T TURN!!!! Ack! Did Mark manage to mess up the old tumblers of the locks in his attempt to jimmy the lock? We both tried a few times unsuccessfully, until finally Mark triumphed and we were able to laugh together about the whole thing for the first time--I'd been laughing about it all along, Mark failed to see the humor after a long sojourning day. Fancy that!

I don't think I'll be allowed to be in charge of the key for a long while...