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Did Anyone Pray?

Sunday evening just after the service ended and we were leaving the building, I asked Dawn for the van keys. She quickly went for her purse. I chatted with several as I waited for her return.

If you know Dawn’s purse you know that it has many compartments. I always think of Captain Kangaroo’s pockets when thinking of her purse. Captain Kangaroo had deep coat pockets which always revealed anything and everything strange. He seemed to have whatever was necessary for every situation in those bottomless pockets.

Dawn quickly came back with a somewhat befuddled look on her face. That is NEVER a good thing unless I'm playing a joke on her. She couldn't find the keys.

The whole church quickly became involved in the search. We looked everywhere. Suspects quickly began to come to mind. Could it be that "so and so" took them? She was a tad mad at me tonight? Did someone play a mean trick and chuck the keys in the weeds? What happened to those keys!

As we all were scrambling Maicon said, "Has anyone prayed about the keys?" Wow! Good question. I responded negatively and prayed as I continued to look, "Father, help us to find the keys!"

About a half an hour, and three "dump the purse out on the floor" episodes later, someone asked me, "Do you think that it would be a good idea to take EVERYTHING out of that purse?"

The thought scared me! EVERYTHING? WOW! I don't know... ok let's go for it.

Dawn was elsewhere as I began the grim task. One by one the items came out. One by one the pockets were disemboweled. One by one they confessed no keys.

I gave the thing one final shake and Graziele said, "I heard keys!" I too had heard the faint tinkle of metal against metal. There was hope! I grabbed for the last bulge in the blackness of that bottomless pit and felt a hard wad. I reached to dislodge it and discovered the mystery. The keys had fallen into a hole in said pocket! I thought that surgery was going to be necessary but finally extracted the prize with a triumphant shout. The house exploded with glee as I held the tiny ring in the air. I felt like Gollum, "My Precious!"

As we left the building Grazi said, "Pastor, I didn't know what was going on. I prayed for God to show us the keys and nothing happened. So, I prayed again and still nothing!"

I love childlike faith that is surprised when answers don't come quickly from Father. We all left church on Sunday with good lessons in faith and prayer. Pray before you panic. Trust as if God is going to answer you right away. But also realize that sometimes that answer might take awhile to come. It is fun to be a part of such lessons. Especially when we FIND the keys!
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