Locked Out!?

Have you ever had a bad day? Of course you have; everyone has. Well, I would not say Wednesday was a bad day, but I did have a few bad hours during that day.

Wednesday afternoon I left the church heading home and just needed to make a quick stop at the post office on the way. So I pull into my parking spot and I notice in my rear view mirror that a big van is about to pull in next to me on the driver's side. So I wait to get out, so as not to get my door taken off.

So the van pulls in leaving me about 2 feet to open my door and squeeze out. When I opened my door, my wallet fell out onto the parking lot. So I squeezed out, picked up my wallet, locked my doors, closed them, and took off into the post office just happy I was able to get out of my car and retrieve my wallet. Then as I am walking into the post office, I notice my pocket seems a little lighter than usual. So I reach into my pocket to find...NOTHING! Yep, I had locked my keys in my car. And that isn't the worst of it. The car is still running. Not only did I lock the keys in the car, they were in the ignition and my car was still running.

So I called my wife, who called a locksmith to come and open my car (because I do not have a spare key to my car...yet). But then I began watching the clock. I had gotten to the post office at 4:50 and didn't get all the calls made until a little after 5. And I needed to be at church at 6 for JV. So Brit came to the post office to keep me company. The Locksmith had said 30 minutes at the most. So 30 minutes came and went...no locksmith. So we called again. And apparently whoever had told us 30 minutes was also having a bad day because it was more like another hour. By now it is 6pm. And it is going to be another hour! So I told Brit to leave to go to Awana and I would come when the car got unlocked.

So I am standing outside the post office...waiting. And of course thinking...and of course praying. Only in a bind I have the tendency to pray selfishly. Like "Lord, please let the Locksmith come early". And of course I was thinking how stupid I was for locking my keys in the car...and how stupider since the car was still running. But then I thought...hey, there is nothing I can do about this now. I made a mistake. I can either get frustrated and mad or I can just say "thank you" Lord because you are in control. So I really started praying as I watched car after car come in carrying people who wanted to get their mail. And I thought of the fact that I am never locked out of God's presence. I can't get in my car, but I can come before the throne of the Creator of the universe and the throne of my Savior and talk to Him. For the child of God, we will never be locked out. And many times we act as if we are. We don't take advantage of the open line of communication we have. I am so thankful for that open line by which I can talk to God whenever I want. That is awesome.

So to finish the story...the locksmith finally did come around 7pm. And it took all of five seconds for him to unlock my door. It took longer to get my credit card info. And then I got in my car and headed to JV, still feeling a bit stupid. But as soon as I walked into JV, our JV girls shouted "Aaron" and ran over and laughed and giggled (like JV girls do) and didn't make fun of me for locking my keys in my car. They were just glad I was there in time for games on Oreo Night. And it was FUN!! Thanks JVers, you are the best!