Lesson Learned

When Easton was younger we couldn't find the car keys one day.  He quickly went and kneeled down by the coffee table and said a quick prayer asking for help.  He jumped up and said Heavenly Father told him we would find the keys if we looked for them!  He was so happy that he had the solution all figured out. 

Last Sunday as we arrived home from California I was working on updating a few things on my ipod.  Caleb brought me Bailey's and asked if I would do the same for hers.  He set it next to the computer.  When we woke up Mon. morning however, we couldn't find it.

All week it has been right there in my head that we should easily be able to find it.  After all it couldn't have gone very far.  Usually when I can't find something I say a quick little prayer and try to think like the child who lost the item.  Where would they go with it?  I did this with the ipod.  I did it several times.  In fact, for almost a week I looked at LEAST once a day for a good amount of time each day, in hopes of finding it. 

After it had been 5 days I told the kids the first one to find it got $5.  They looked...I looked...nothing!  I started to face my fear that on the previous Mon. when I had the kids empty all of the garbages that it had accidentally been in one of the bags. I went to go dumpster diving...It was nasty, so instead I went back inside the house and looked for over an hour.  Finally, Mat offered to go look in the dumpsters.  Of course this wasn't a typical week for the garbages though.  All of the bags were buried underneath yard clippings, nasty carpet, and just nasty, nasty stuff.

I went out to see how it was going and was overwhelmed by the smell as I walked outside.  Poor Mat.  At least he had the foresight to lay out plastic to dump the contents onto.  I wouldn't have and it would have been a treat putting it all back...

Here's the crazy part:  All week, every time I walked by the treadmill upstairs I thought to lift it and look under it.  I didn't though.  WHY would it be there?  If Peyton had it there's no way she could have put it underneath.  SOOOO very many times I thought to look under it and didn't.  I kept thinking that usually when I say my little prayers for help I always find the items right away.  However, I knew in my mind this time would not be that easy.  I was missing something. 

Late last night I was up washing Bailey's gym clothes and the thought to look under it came again.  I walked past it and then turned around reluctantly to lift it.  After all I HAD looked everywhere else.  Even as I was lifting it I was thinking how stupid it was that it wouldn't and couldn't be there.

Yeah, it was there.

I need to notice what is right in front of me more and not feel the need to look beyond that.  I am humbled by how SUCH an insignificant item taught me such a simple lesson that I already knew but was overlooking.