Hate to Wait?

It had been a hectic afternoon of running errands, complicated by the fact that we were doing the running in a new place that we hadn’t been familiar with for nearly 15 years. Meridian and Boise had grown and expanded and we’d just moved back to town. It was past dinnertime when we parked at our final stop—the Co-op. My stomach was growling, and my attitude was not in much better shape. “I’ll wait in the car with the dog while you go in,” I advised my wife as she headed in to get the organic sprouted wheat tortilla and other goodies on her list. “Naw, guess I better go in with her.” I was talking to the dog! So, I hopped out and ran in not too far behind her. After 30 minutes of Co-op cruising we emerged with our tortillas, some earthy tasting corn chips that we tried out from a free “taster” person, a glass jar of salsa and some Italian sausage made of salmon, (the only thing I’d been able to smuggle out of the carnivore section.)

As the door of the Co-op closed behind me, I reached for my keys. “My keys! Oh no, I hope I didn’t lock them in the car!” I peered through the tinted window and confirmed my fear—this also activated the dog who began his urgent and unmistakable, “I need to go, NOW!” barks. “JoAnn, do you have the keys?” “No—but why don’t you check the doors and windows while I open the chips and salsa?”

Five minutes later the doors and windows had all been checked (twice), we’d called everyone we knew in Boise that might be able to help—every one of them weren’t home, the chips and salsa were half gone and the dog was still letting us now about his personal discomfort. I had run out of solutions and was ready to begin the trek to our new home to retrieve the needed keys (which was quite a hike). “No, we have to stay together. It’s like being lost in the woods—its always best to stay together. This is an adventure! Let’s wait and see what God might do!” If I have learned anything in the 46 years of marriage, its that my wife usually has a good read on what is best to do in tough situations.

Leaning against the locked car with a barking dog inside, munching corn chips and waiting is tough…and even outside the Co-op such behavior is out of the norm. Waiting and munching momentarily got my mind off our predicament. A little red car parked nearby got my attention and after its occupant went inside, I walked over to see just what kind it was. That was when I saw the check lying on the ground. I picked it up and noted that it was made out to Quality Locksmiths.

A quick call on our cell phone to the folks who wrote the check uncovered an interesting serendipity…they had locked themselves out of their car at the Co-op less have an hour before and had called the locksmith to open their car! They took our number and before we could finish off the chips the phone rang, and it was him, the locksmith. “Yes,” he had just been at the Co-op. He admitted that he must have dropped the check. Our new “locked-out” acquaintances had told him about our plight, and he’d be delighted to open our car, too—in exchange for their check!

If you’re like me, you hate to wait. But I am learning that when we wait, the possibilities expand beyond our imaginations and we open ourselves up to seeing divine creativity.