Today was nearly the worst day of my life.

I somehow mislaid my keys yesterday to the Chrysler.  I’m really careful with stuff and like NEVER lose things like that.  It really shook me up. I had NO other key that started the car.  The copies I had made only open the door.  The engine won’t start because it has a chip in it.  So my car was basically imobilized.

Ironically, this was the 2 year anniversary that I’ve had that car.  It was a very generous gift to our ministry from Dr. Pat Barrington.  She’s my doctor and fellow missionary to Niger this February.

So the Chrysler dealership said I had to bring the car in in order to get a key made.  The car had to be “reprogrammed.”  That meant I had to have the car towed.

I have three old cars.  I have Triple A, so towing’s not an issue, but it sure is a hassle.

So I figured those keys had to be in my office at FBC Doraville.  No keys.

Then Azzlea Mission? No keys.

How about Perimeter mall parking lot. No Keys.  I really thought I’d find them there. Now I was REALLY bummed out.  It wasn’t just the losing the keys. Again, something that NEVER happens, only it did. It was also the repair of the Chrysler transmission that was over $2,000, and making sure all the teams this weekend were set up correctly.

I was feeling so sorry for myself that I actually started crying.  What a wuss.

The Father kept telling me, “Hey son, when did I ever let you down? Don’t worry!

But the last logical place for those keys to be was in that parking lot.

I thought of what happened yesterday to retrace my steps.  I  made one last stop yesterday at Lowes.  But I figured it was impossible for them to have fallen out there because I was driving and the bag with the key in it was on the passenger’s side floor board.

I went in and asked the Customer Service people:  “Did you have a set of keys turned in yesterday?”

Sure did.  And he pulled out my keys.  Praise the Lord!

It’s so dad gum weird that I really can’t figure it out.  How did those keys got from a zippered compartment in a bag to on the ground in the parking lot?

I chalk on this up to spiritual warfare.  Whenever we have a huge outreach event like this weekend, we always incur really weird stuff like your computer and your car will both mess up.

One day at a time.

This afternoon I hosted a team from North Carolina that does clowns and puppets.  I was still kind of in a funk although I was a LOT better now that I had my keys.

We went to do a show at Shallowford Gardens in Doraville.  I went around and rounded up the kids and set up chairs.

There were a couple of kid had just incredibly bad behaviour.  One little 9 year old actually told one of the older ladies on the team that he was going to “Cut her throat and kill her.”  I had to have a long talk with that kid.

Doubt I did much good.

Peace.

Thursday is always special for me.  It’s ASHLEY day!  We really enjoy riding around together and talking about ministry.

Even more exciting was Jesse came too.  Wow!  He needs to get more driving hours under his belt.  If you can drive where I drive,  you’re a big boy driver.  285, Buford Highway, Jimmy Carter, 78 and its dreaded reversable lanes. . . scary stuff.

I just had him focus on his one lane, one mile at a time.  If you break it down almost anything is possible.

We gathered up all the painting supplies and took them Azalea.  Also spent about $150 on paint for the Azalea Mission.  I have a team from Kentucky that will work with us this weekend.  They’ll clean and completely repaint the mission.  Since my wife has been working there with the Bengali women I’ve tried to keep the place cleaner.

Speaking of clean–I encountered the filthiest mission I’d ever seen today at Huntington Creek.  Apparently, one of the kids hid in a closet and waited for the team to lock up and leave.  They he got out, let all his little naughty friends and and completely went bezerk.  I took pictures.  It was unbelievable.  Even down to painting on the walls.  Ash, J and I cleaned for about an hour.  That was something else.  The kids are out of control.  So are the parents.  Go figure.

We spent a little time at Perimeter Mall.  Ash and I like the salads over there. Then we got Ashley some new boots and J some new house shoes.  He calls them “slippers.”  I don’t think I could be manly and wear slippers.

Tomorrow I have a puppet team in town.  Saturday, Crossroads church will be in Lawrenceville.  Sunday Perimeter will be all over Metro Atlanta–20 locations.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Peace.