You have heard the parable of the woman who lost a coin in her house, and searched for it until she found it, and then celebrated with her neighbors.  (Luke 15).

Let me tell you a story: I’ll call it “the lost keys.”  Last week I went up north to our cabin for a time of reading and reflection and sermon prep.  On Sunday, after having a wonderful walk and lunch with my daughter Erica, her husband Jerry, and their puppy Burton,  I headed north.  It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis, and I drove north in my shorts and tee shirt.  It was a wonderful drive.

When I got to  Two Harbors, and got out of the car at the Holiday gas station, the temp was about 50 degrees and the wind was blowing at least 20 mph.  When I got to the cabin and unloaded the car, I quickly changed out of my cargo shorts and tee shirt into jeans and added a shirt and jacket, and stuffed my shorts in the duffel bag.

I had taken a extra car key with me “just in case” I locked myself out of the car, not that that has EVER happened before (it has)  and quickly started a fire to take the chill out of the air, and got started putting things in their places etc.

Well, Monday was a beautiful day, I went for a two mile walk in the morning, did some reading in the afternoon, worked on my sermon a little while, and went for a short walk in the evening–the sun was shining and it was a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday began as a gray morning.  The wind had picked up and it was raining lightly (but horizontally with the wind steady at well over 25 mph by my “guestamate”) .  A good day to stay inside, read, study, and prepare for Sunday.

All day the winds howled, and it rained, and rained and rained.  About 7 pm the power went off.  I ran to the shed to look for a lantern, and found a battery powered one, and two Coleman gas lanterns, and ran back to the cabin.  I spent the next hour trying to get the Colman lanterns to light–they hadn’t been used for years.  Finally one lit, and as it was getting darker, I was relieved.   The rest of the evening I spent reading by Coleman lantern., and actually finished one of the books I had brought up.

Now, we have a log cabin in the woods.  It isn’t large (28′ X 24′) but it is heavy. The wind was so strong that the cabin actually shuttered with the gusts of wind…I didn’t even want to think about being  in a tent, or in a cabin on top of a hill with a beautiful vista overlooking Lake Superior–with no protection from the wind.  Our cabin is  IN THE WOODS.  It is sheltered, and still I could feel it shake under the power of the wind.  I kept the fire going and went to bed–the electricity  came back on about 1:30 a.m.

Wednesday morning–time to pack up and leave–still horizontal rain, wind howling through the trees–not sure how many trips back and forth to the car, but I could only take what I could carry in one arm because I didn’t want to put anything down in the mud to open the door or the trunk lid.

It was as I was getting ready to close up the cabin when I remembered the other set of keys. Where did I put them?  Usually I place all my keys on the table just inside the door–not there.  I checked the loft;  Not there.  I looked under the futon–not there.

Then I remembered that I had been wearing a fleece jacket for the previous two days (Wednesday I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt) surely the keys were in one of the pockets.  But where was my fleece? Upstairs, not there, on the porch, not there; out to the car, unzipped all the pockets in the duffel bags-not there-and no keys.  Did I leave the jacket at my friend’s cabin when I took my shower on Monday evening?  Drove there–no jacket, and no keys.

If  you’ve ever misplaced keys you know the feeling.  If you haven’t, well good for you.

It was getting late–noon–and I had been looking for my keys and my jacket for over an hour–I just had to go, and perhaps, if I needed to, I could go to the dealer and get a new key before Sue got home from her trip and she’d never need to know…

So, tired, wet, and frustrated I headed home.  Part way to Duluth I remembered that I had stopped at the Hardware store in Two Harbors on Monday for a couple of things–I called them to see if I left the keys on the counter–no such luck.  Oh, well…

So I got home about 4:15 and unpacked.  as I was taking my stuff out of the duffel bag, there were my cargo shorts–I had forgotten all about them, and in the lower pocket on the left side, was the extra set of keys.  YES!!! WHEW, relief at last!
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I wanted to rejoice, but there was no one home with which to share my joy, so I share it with you today.  Rejoice, for the Keys which were lost, have been found–and as Luke tells it, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  Glory be to God.

Grace and Peace,

PK