My $800 Mistake Last Weekend

 

Last weekend I had a humiliating incident. Since I share my life lessons with you all, for better or for worse, I’m sharing this one too. Just keep in mind all my good points while you’re reading, like how I got 1300 on my SATs 10 years ago. That surely still counts for something, right?

This started Saturday morning before the soccer games. The kids were strapped in the car seats when my husband called, “Honey, where are the car keys?”

“Um, I don’t know. I can’t find them.”

At this point my husband would normally say something like, “Here’s my surprised face.” (Looking not surprised at all.)

Because I lose my car keys ALL. THE. TIME.

They usually turn up somewhere, so we frantically did the “normal routine.” The pockets. The purses. The kitchen drawers. After 15 minutes, we expanded the search to more “unusual,” yet still plausible places. You know, the freezer, the dryer, the outside trash cans, and the glove compartments.

My sweet husband. Bless him. Not an unkind word was uttered. Not a scornful look. “They’ll turn up somewhere,” he was saying, as I was grumbling and whining, whirling around like a tornado emptying toy buckets and trash bags.

But alas, they were NOT turning up somewhere. At this point the first soccer game had started, so we made the decision to move Ty’s car seat to my husband’s truck so he could play in some of the game, while I stayed behind to keep looking.

The deeper we were getting, I started realizing this was not only inconvenient, it was going to be expensive. Somehow, we had never made a spare key. (I know, I know.) And thank you, newfangled technology. It was an electronic key, so we needed to tow it to the shop to make another key. And then there was the extra garage opener, and extra house keys…

After an hour more of looking, I was stumped, I was tired, and I was so mad at myself. I was in the middle of dumping out the contents of the boys Legos and pretend food (you never know) when I just stopped, and dropped my head to my hands.

WHY IN THE WORLD had I not made a second set of car keys?

WHY IN THE WORLD was I always losing them?

WHY IN THE WORLD was I always running 100 miles an hour, so disorganized?

“God. I get it. You are trying to teach me something, aren’t you?”  And it hit me. It’s no wonder. I have so much GOING ON – in my house, on my calendar, in my head, on my plate…No wonder things were slipping through the cracks.

It hurt to admit it, but right now I’m essentially living in a constant state of emergency, and the mundane tasks are getting neglected. I suddenly remembered something my dad told me when I was in college. He was talking about cars (he used to run a car dealership) and he said: “Jessica, so many people neglect the maintenance. And then their car breaks down, because they get so caught up in the urgent that they don’t care for the important.”

I’d been living in the tyranny of the urgent, and it had caught up with me.

As I was fishing through crumbs in sofa cushions, I had the thought that although I hated to give up $759, if I really learned something from this, and made some changes, it might almost be worth it.

Not coincidentally, the past few days have been spent skimming and reading the books in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. You know, books about how to save your money, organize your home, manage your time, care for your family. I’m an such an expert on homemaking, obviously, that I’m actually one of the authors. {My book, How To Introduce Your Child To Jesus, is part of this bundle.}

Another book in it is “Your Simple Home Handbook: 30 Projects To Help Your Home Breathe,” written by my friend Elsie. I’d meant to read this book, but kept putting it off. After all, who wants to read a lame (I thought) book about organizing? B.O.R.I.N.G.

Suddenly, house torn apart, and almost $759 down the drain, it didn’t seem so boring.

I remembered this book, and I made a promise to God. Maybe you’re not supposed to do stuff like this, but I do it. God, show me where these keys are, and I promise I will make some changes.

Less than ten minutes later (the tow truck literally on its way), I walked outside to see my husband dangling the keys in his hands, shaking his head. Oh, don’t worry. They were just outside. On a patio chair. (????)

You may not be as scatterbrained and disorganized as I am, but my guess is there is probably some area you’re wanting to work on, but haven’t made the time to improve.

What areas of your life need a little work? What steps can you take to work on these areas?

 

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