The post I meant to write two weeks ago.

So in case you haven't heard, my keys decided to take a little vacay...without me.

I stopped by the post office on a cold rainy Thursday almost two weeks ago to mail a package or two. I took a big bag in with everything I needed to pack into the box and had it all on the little table in the main office...along with my keys that for some reason never made it into my purse. Long story short, I got the boxes all packed up and paid for only to realize after I was looking for my keys that they were gone. Panic (seriously) ensued at that point. Actually, I remained pretty calm until a friend from church walked through the door and at that point I started panicking and crying because, Hello, my keys were gone and they contained everything that was important. (e.g. house keys, apartment keys, school keys, mail keys, car keys and car clicker). I'll spare you the rest of the details of the day--just suffice it to say that I looked through trash cans, was on the ground looking through my car in dress pants and had a rather quick journey to my complex so that I could get into my apartment before the offices closed. My mom was convinced I was going to find them...I wasn't so sure.
As the next two days took place, I noticed that I was much more nervous out in my public. Not in the crying-won't-look-anyone-in-the-eyes kind of way, but just in a I'm-not-sure-who-to-true-because-what-if-you-want-to-take-something-else-from-me kind of way. It was a weird feeling because for the most part, I live in the world of everyone-is-nice-and-won't-do-anything-mean. I think what bothered me the most is that the keys disappeared while I was IN the post office with them. It felt more personal than I think it would have if I had had them taken while I wasn't around. I was in Publix at one point and remember feeling jumpy anytime someone came near my cart. I knew this wasn't the way I was supposed to feel...it wasn't going to do me any good, that's for sure, but I didn't like the way it made me feel.
Then Sunday rolled around. I was sitting at church in the choir room, ready to go into the worship center and a friend came walking toward me...WITH MY KEYS. Apparently, a lady did take them at the post office...but on accident. She picked them up from the table, took them home and didn't know it. Saw a tag on my keys that matched the keys with my church (think Kroger card kinda thing), called them, but they wouldn't give any information because she wasn't a member...but had a friend that goes to my church...gave them to her...who gave them to a lady that goes to my church as well and is in choir and she brought them Sunday morning, scanned the tag and figured out they were mine. CRAZY. All was well, everything was attached that should have been and I cried.
And my sister cried. And everyone thought we were crazy.
But all's well that ends well....
and I'm grateful that they fell into the hands of someone who was honest and had integrity to try to do the right thing.
I may never meet that lady, but I'm grateful she had a good heart.
And I'm grateful that God is always in the small things...
and the big things...
and the medium things...
My mom was right...they were going to show back up...
I just happened to have a few lessons before they were returned...
and I think that makes me better in the long run.
Hard lessons learned.