new mercies i see

Anyone who knows me knows that I lose things like it my job. I can never find my keys. Sometimes I spend more time looking for the dog’s leash than I spend walking her. This is a sheer fact I cannot deny about myself, so I have developed habits to deal with this problem. I double and triple check for my phone, wallet and keys every time I leave the house. My keys now have a hook near the door in the apartment, next to the hook for the dog’s leash. Doesn’t always work but it is a start.

This morning I woke in the dark to fly home for my grandfather’s funeral. Enough said, right? I have been singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” lately to myself. It has started to become almost an instinct in times of stress. I was humming it in the hallway, wondering what new mercies I would see this morning, in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dark. On my way, rushing out the door, I double and triple checked for the essentials, putting my wallet in its place in my bag, accessible for security.

Didn’t take long to find my first new mercy of the day.

But it wasn’t the traffic. We under-estimated Monday morning rush hour and how early it started, so I arrived at the airport frazzled and late. I had forty five minutes to check-in, clear security and grab my flight. Thankfully the line is short, so I hurry to a self-service check-in kiosk, and reach into my bag for my wallet…

You can probably guess where the story goes from here.

So there I am, upending my bag—school books, papers for work, dvds, and snacks are spread all around me—dialing my phone with one hand, trying to catch my husband to see if it is in the car, while looking through the mess with the other.

The Delta person asked if I was having trouble finding my reservation on the kiosk. No, I couldn’t find my wallet. The look on her face was priceless. With my penchant for losing things, it is one I have seen before.

I shove all my stuff bag in my bag and my husband, on the phone, is pulling off the highway, onto the shoulder to search the car. I rush outside and look at the curb where I got out, asking the curbside check-in guy if he or anyone else found anything in the lat couple minutes. Of course he hadn’t, and he started to offer suggestions as to where my wallet might be.

This is another side effect of being that person who loses stuff. Everyone assumes you are a little dumb at least, cause who loses their wallet on the way to the airport? People also tend to think that because you lose things, you don’t know how to look for things, when in fact I am an expert looker because I do it all the freakin’ time.

My blood pressure is rising, tears are starting to fill my eyes, as I drag my unwieldy luggage back inside, pick the nearest patch of floor, for round two of dumping the bag and looking, while my husband, still on the phone is digging the our horrendously messy backseat.

In comes my angel.

It took me a minute to realize that this man was my new mercy this morning. At first, I brushed him off and yet another person trying in earnest to help me but actually making it harder. He was asking over and over if I lost something. In my head, I was thinking, of course I lost something!!! Why else would I be searching through all my stuff on the floor of the airport?!!? When I got passed my stubbornness, and answered “yes, my wallet,” he asked what size it was.

Here is where I must admit a bit of idiocy. You all can probably guess that he had found the wallet. I had no idea. It never occurred to me that this man might actually be able to solve my troubles. I was too wrapped up in my own drama to see past the end of my nose. When it dawned on me to just answer his questions, my wallet appeared.

I wish I had hugged and kissed the man.

In my stress and fragility, it was all I could do to get to the ticket counter, check in with my wallet and get to security. So I said a rushed thanks and went on my way.

He was my new mercy today. I thank God for his help, because I didn’t thank him properly and do not know how else to express my gratitude.