One Saturday, about a month ago, Dave and I spent the afternoon at the movies.  We were running late, so I threw my keys in my purse (I thought), and we jumped out of the car and ran to the ticket booth.

The movie was awesome and so was the popcorn.

When the lights came up, I dug around in my purse for my keys.  Gone. I checked my coat pockets.  Gone. I got down on my hands and knees in a sticky, disgusting movie theater and checked under the seats.  Gone.

The lost and found, the ticket booth, the parking lot, the car.  Gone gone gone gone.

My keys were gone.

Of course, I was panic stricken, but this post isn’t about losing my keys.  It’s about finding them.

Last night, my husband was going to a neighbor’s house.  I said, “If you’re going outside, could you please get the mail?  My (spare) keys are in my purse.”

He searched for the keys in that special way only a man can ravage a lady’s handbag.  I wasn’t there to see it, but here’s his account of what happened next:

“I was checking all the pockets for your keys [because I couldn’t be bothered to listen to your specific instructions about where they were**], and all of a sudden, they just popped out! Are those the keys you lost?”

There are two possible explanations:

  1. My husband is a genie.
  2. There’s an invisible pocket in my purse.

Dave is awesome, but I have to admit, the invisible pocket seems more likely.  And it gave me an idea about not knowing what you have.

You see, I’d been carrying those keys around with me every day for a month.  I carried them to meetings, to the grocery store, to the doctor.  In the greatest of all ironies, I carried them back into the very same movie theater where I thought I’d lost them. More than once.

So here’s my question: what are you carrying around that you don’t know you have?  What gifts do you have stuffed in your pockets, just waiting to be discovered?

  • Remember when you said you couldn’t bear it any longer?  Not for one more minute?  But you made it through.
  • Remember when you thought you would die waiting?  But here you are.
  • Remember when you told yourself you couldn’t possibly do it?  And then you did.

Your faith, your patience, your perseverance.  They’re all hiding out in invisible pockets, in your purse, in your pants, in your jacket.  Look hard, and you’ll see.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, I have a husband you can borrow.

**Editor’s note