Locked Out

Today was the birthday of my favorite daughter-in-law Christine. I drove to the Dollar Tree Store to buy her an expensive birthday card and stopped at the bank to get some cash to put in the card. I was planning to leave the card and cash at their house when I stopped by to check on their dog Moose. He stays indoors while Tim and Christine are at work.

However, when I arrived at their house I realized I forgot the key to their house. I didn’t have time to drive back to my house to get the key because I needed to be in Costa Mesa to pick up two granddaughters after school. I called Tim and Christine to see if they had a hidden house key I could use to let Moose out for a few minutes and leave the birthday card. No luck – there was no hidden key.

I left their house in Glendora and drove about an hour to the grandkid’s school in Costa Mesa. The weather was unusually hot as parents and grandparents waited in the parking lot to pick up their young passengers. After I picked up Emily and Janie we drove from the school to their house. I used the code to open their garage door but discovered the door from the garage to the house was locked. I called my daughter to see if they had a hidden house key. No luck – we were locked out of their house too!

The grandkids were hot and tired. They wanted to get into their air conditioned house. I decided to take them to a local Frozen Yogurt shop to cool them down. However, the Yogurt shop was just as hot from all the Yogurt machines running in the building. We ended up eating our melting Yogurt on an outside picnic table. 

Their mother teaches at BIOLA University in La Mirada. She was able to leave school and drive home to let us into their house. When she arrived we were glad to get cooled off in their house. It had been an eventful day and it was nice to be home.

There is a verse in the Bible where the Apostle Paul said he learned to be content in any and every situation (Philippians 4:13). I’m sure this would include hot and humid September days when you are locked out of the house with no hidden keys nearby. Let me encourage you to follow Paul’s example in whatever circumstance you find yourself today. And let me suggest you hide a key under your door mat so forgetful people can get into your house. You will be glad you did and they will too.

You can read 365 more stories by the author in his book Let Me Encourage You by Mark Hopper. for only $20 plus $5 postage. Order your copy today at markh@efreedb.org.