Lessons From the Edge

We have to ask.

Tuesday my grandma didn't come to the dining room for lunch. So I went to her apartment to check on her.
She just wasn't feeling well. Needed to stay in bed and rest. We talked for a bit and then I had to leave. Grandma gave me her keys and asked me to check her mail later that afternoon. "Sure thing," I said, then kissed her and went on to my next thing.
A couple hours later, I was in the van rushing to get an errand done before going home. And I realized I'd forgotten to check Grandma's mail. Which is when I also realized I'd taken her keys off my wrist and didn't know where I'd put them. Doh!
I convinced myself to relax about it. I was going back to Edgewood in an hour, so I planned to find the keys and check/deliver her mail on my next trip. *Whew!*
The problem is, the next trip was super busy. (Meet & greet session with the new owner and residents/family members.) And when it was over I was in a rush to get home so I could join my family for dinner. When I was laying exhausted in bed that night, I realized once more I'd forgotten to check Grandma's mail look for Grandma's keys so I could check her mail. For just a second, I actually contemplated getting up and going into Edgewood to look around. My sleepy mind quickly nixed that idea.
So Wednesday morning I looked and I looked. Scoured the atrium. Searched the office. Looked around two other offices where someone might possibly have place "found" keys.
But I saw nothing.
So I looked some more. And still found no keys.
I walked upstairs to my grandma's apartment and sat down on the side of her bed. She asked, "Do you have my mail?" And I told her about losing temporarily misplacing her keys. But I assured her I would find them again. As soon as I got the newsletter started printing, I would get back to searching for the keys. "No need to worry, Grandma. God knows where they are!"
And I was off again, this time to get the newsletter going.

As I walked out of her apartment back to the activity room I prayed, God, I know you know where those keys are. You see them right now. Would you please lead me to them? And I trusted HE would.
I gathered a few pages for the newsletter from my desk then headed for the office. The remaining pages were somewhere in my boss's office so I went in there to find them. I looked over one desk, then another, until I found what I needed. I picked up the pages and as I turned to leave I spotted a set of keys on the other side of the desk. A double-take told me they were my grandma's keys, and I snatched them up for a closer look and a final determination.
Yep. They were hers!
God led me right to them while I was looking for my newsletter pages. *smile*

The thing is, I had already looked in this office for the keys. In fact, I thought I'd looked quite thoroughly. So, why, I wondered, didn't I find them the first time?
Well, the first time I hadn't prayed about it. I hadn't asked God for help. Really. That is the only difference I can make of the two situations. The keys were sitting on her desk as plain as day. Somehow, I just didn't see them the first time.
God used that "insignificant" moment to remind me of a valuable Truth. A lesson for me in every day. I am needy. HE sees. HE knows. And HE will help me. But I'll miss Him if I try to take care of things on my own.

We have to ask.