OUT TO PASTOR: Did you see my key?

My life has been bombarded with questions from the beginning of the day until I fall asleep at night.

For the most part, I don’t prioritize questions. Usually, when people ask me a question, there is something behind that question. If I don’t see what’s behind the question, I could answer it in such a way as to get myself in trouble – and believe me, I’ve been in trouble many times before.

This is no truer than with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. She can taunt me with a question out of nowhere. I get in deep trouble when I realize what is behind the question.

A good example is the other day when she came into the living room and, with both hands on her hips, said, “Did you see my key?”

At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. Usually, when she asks a question, I have been in Lala land for so long that I couldn’t bring my thoughts together.

I looked back at her and said, “Oh, my dear, what key are you talking about?”

Looking into her purse, you will find she has a key to everything. I refuse to ramble through those keys because I might find a key she has for me. Of course, if I had seen that key, it might have solved a lot of my problems, or it might not have.

Responding to me, she said, “You know, the key to my car.”

“You mean to your Sissy Van?”

I could hear her grit her teeth as she stared at me with one of “those stares”.

“I had my key yesterday and I cannot find it today. Have you seen it?”

If I had seen her keys, this would’ve been a great opportunity for me. I could use them as a bargaining chip to get something for myself. Oh, how I wished I knew where that key was. Imagine what I could get for it.

“I’m sorry,” I said reluctantly, “I have not seen your key anywhere.”

On occasion, I have driven her Sissy Van, but it’s been well over a year since I did. I tried to think of where those keys might be, and I searched a few places, but as always, I came up empty; what I wouldn’t give to be able to find that key.

That’s the way life is for me. I have an opportunity before me, but I just don’t have the resources to seize it.

I hadn’t seen her key for so long that I didn’t even know what it looked like. But that didn’t keep me from looking around because finding those keys would have been a treasure.

One thing about The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, when she starts something she never stops until she finishes it. Most of the time, it drives me crazy, which, according to her, is a very short drive.

If I don’t find something I need at the time, I just quit looking, knowing that when I least expect it and when I’m not looking for it, I will find it. That’s happened to me so many times I can’t recall.

A friend used to say, “If you have something, you usually don’t need it, and when you need something, you usually don’t have it.” That seems to be the rule in my life as far back as I can remember.

With The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, she must have it right then and there when she needs something. “Now” is her favorite word.

Trying to console her, I said, “If you just make up your mind that you don’t need your keys right now, because you do have a spare key, you sooner or later will find it when you least expect it. That’s just the way life is.”

I can remember a dozen things I lost, and no matter how hard I looked for them, I could never find them. Then, I found them when I gave up and started something else and just assumed they were gone forever.

It was the next day, and I had forgotten about her lost key. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage came to me and said, “Well, I found my key.” She said it as though she was rubbing it in my face.

“Where did you find it?” I asked, curious to find out where it had been all this time.

Looking at me a little nervously, she said, “I found it in my purse.” She paused for a moment and then continued, “There’s a little pocket in front of one of my other pockets in my purse. I always forget that it’s there, and I never looked until today.”

I was happy for her and congratulated her on finding her lost key. The key was not lost; she had just forgotten where she had put it.

In my Bible reading today I read a very important verse. “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

There was a time when I was lost spiritually and didn’t know it. The whole reason for Jesus to come into this world was for lost people just like me. At the time I thought I was fine, but then God interrupted my life and showed me I was indeed lost. It is through Jesus that I found my way back to God.

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone is (352) 216-3025, e-mail is jamessnyder51@gmail.com, and website is www.jamessnyderministries.com