They're Lost!

Keys

I spent a wonderful weekend on a retreat with the women of my church. I left my car at the church and rode to the retreat site with friends. When we returned on Sunday, I discovered that my keys were gone. I bet you know the feeling. It wasn’t just one key. I had keys to two separate cars along with keys to every door in our house. In addition, they were all attached to a costly fob. I searched all of the bags that I had taken on the trip. I looked over the grass and pavement around the car. I checked the cars in which I traveled both coming and going. I then called the retreat center to see if they had found any keys. I checked all of the obvious places. Then, I searched the ridiculous. Why else would anyone search their cosmetic bag for keys? Only because all sensible sources had been checked, and I was desperate.

I called my husband, and he came to pick me up at the church. He picked up the search. He  proceeded to dump out all of the bags that I had already been through. I have been known to look right at something and still not see it, so I was not offended by this. Still, no keys! So, now what do we do?

The car was necessary, so my husband called a locksmith. The cost, with the service charge was to be over $200, and that didn’t count the fob. The cost was not outrageous, but $20 would have been enough to frustrate me, because this was a result of my own negligence. I spent an abnormal amount of time in the search, and it stole the time of others, too. I had been inattentive, and laid my keys down somewhere without thought. Predictably, I found them after making the call to the locksmith. Fortunately, Jack was able to call him back before new keys were created.

Yes, I was grateful to have found the keys. Money was saved, crisis averted. But, I was still aggravated with myself. My lack of focus caused unnecessary stress, and it created a loss of productivity, because my thoughts and actions were set on this one thing…finding my keys.

You are probably thinking, well don’t we all do that at times? I suppose that’s true, but it’s worth considering why. I was distracted by the urgency of leaving on time while ignoring the importance of keeping track of my keys. So, what about you?

Are you good about staying aware of what’s most important, as opposed to the pressures of the urgent? Do you continue working toward the important goals of your day, even when you hear the little ding on your computer or phone? Are you distracted by the perceived urgency of an e-mail, text, or FB message?

Life is full of distractions, so we must predetermine what’s important rather than just urgent. What are your priorities today? What must be accomplished? Once you know, eliminate as many potential distractions as possible. Determine now what you will, and will not, do to reach your goals. But, whatever you do…hold on to your keys!

Grieving?

Grief

It was the end of the day. I was tired, but still had supper to prepare. As I cooked, my teenage sons kept me entertained with tales of their day. The phone rang, and I answered in my usual peppy voice. It was my sister-in-law’s distinct mid-western accent. I started to say, “What a nice surprise!”, when I caught the tone of her voice, and my words changed to, “What’s wrong?”

In a split second everything changed. She told me that my forty-one year old brother had just died of a heart attack. I couldn’t breathe. I thought that I hadn’t heard correctly. Billy didn’t have a heart condition. He’d just had a good report from his doctor after an annual check-up. I had just been to Michigan, for a visit with him, two weeks before. He looked fine.

But, that’s how it is, isn’t it? Life, with its routine, is suddenly interrupted by the unthinkable. Our world is shattered, and we have to learn how to pick up the pieces. But, when death occurs, there is preparation that must be made, in the midst of the pain. For me, I had to make a plane reservation and pack.  

I needed to move quickly, but I found it difficult to focus. Memories were sweeping through my brain like a movie screen. Billy and I were just two years apart in age. As children, on a farm, we had no friends that lived near us. We had each other, but that was enough. We were extremely close, and now he was gone. It was like a big piece of the puzzle, which was me, was missing. How was I to move forward when I felt incomplete?

This is where the power of faith makes the difference. Life, on earth, was intended to be temporal. That’s part of God’s gift to us. Our time here is hard, but we do not have to endure it forever. Our eternal home is perfect. Billy had just moved on before I did. We would eventually be reunited. I struggled to feel whole without him, but I knew that my “completeness” was in my relationship to my heavenly father. It was not in my relationship with my brother, precious as that was.

You know what I mean. You understand loss and the inevitable pain. Loss is common to mankind, but it doesn’t feel common, at all, when going through it. The earth may feel shaky under one’s feet when the pronouncement of death comes. You may feel that you can’t handle this new reality. Life, on earth, is forever changing. We have no control, but Christ is constant.

When Billy died, I found the need to grab hold of “the solid rock”, Christ. It was important to realize that there was something that would never change. I can count on Him. You can, too!