Sheriffs, Keys, String Cheese, and Prayer.

So today I am going to be writing a tale of a tale. I have had lots of time to myself this week, well I take that back. I have had almost NO time to myself this week. Dan has been out of town for work all week. The original plan was that he was to be back Tuesday night. Well, that scenario has changed multiple times and he is still not home. So lets just say I have been wanting some extra adult conversation lately and I have learned to relish the times during the day when the kids are napping. Hillary Weeks sums up my feelings best in her song "My Favorite Things." Check it out I think you'll love it.

Anyways, I will say I have had good moments as well. One of those moments was yesterday during visiting teaching. I was really good to get outside and spend some time with other moms and chat while the kids ran around and played at the park. It was a gorgeous day and the sun always cheers me up. I was able to talk and relieve some of the stress I had been feeling this week playing a single mom. Also this day was a day that I got to witness how some of the simplest things can teach you the greatest lessons.

When our visit was over and it was time to leave we all said our goodbyes and headed to the cars. Ethan and Kiera both got buckled in their seats and I went around to the Drivers side of my car to see where we were headed next, when Susan (name has been changed) had this look. This wasn't the look of someone who had just finished a good visit. Instead this was the look of a frustrated mother, 8 months pregnant, who had just been locked out of her car by her two year old son Ryker (name also changed). Apparently after she put her son in the car she closed the door before realizing her keys were still inside. But before she had the chance to retrieve them, Ryker kneeled on the key chain and triggered the lock button.

Now remember we had just spent about an hour at the park on a nice warm sunny day. Ryker had been wearing a fleece jacket since there was a cold breeze that morning. Now he is stuck in a hot car and he doesn't know how to unlock the doors. The windows were all rolled up and there was no way to get in. Susan tried to get Ryker to push the locks on the door up but he just didn't understand. She also tried to get him to push the buttons on her key chain but to no avail. It was so frustrating to watch and not be able to do anything. Ryker was getting hotter and hotter as time went by. Sweat was building on his nose, and then his entire face, and then his hair. It was pretty scary.

There was a Sheriff parked in the parking lot so we asked him if he could help. He had a slim jim in his trunk (probably from a previous arrest) and he tried using it to unlock the doors. It didn't work, so he went back to his trunk and pulled the wire hanger off of his extra uniform that looked like it had just come from the cleaners and tried to use that. Nothing worked. We were worried. I felt really bad for Susan who just had to stand there and listen to Ryker say over and over "mommy I want out" I was sure the stress was going to put her into labor and then oh boy! We'd really have a situation on our hands.

After another silent prayer and at just about the time I couldn't possibly handle it anymore Susan's husband pulled up in his car and pressed the button from their spare key! Whew! Ryker was soaked but was perfectly fine. The fleece jacket came off and he was free to walk around for a bit. He got in my car with Kiera and Ethan who I had been keeping happy with my stash of string cheese and he was happy as could be.

As that day went on I would think back to what had just happened and thoughts would keep coming to my head. Watching Ryker in that hot car, struggling and not being able to do anything to help or change the situation is probably a lot like what Heavenly Father feels like when we practice our agency and make wrong decisions that get us trapped in sticky situations. And watching Susan struggle and have to watch her son suffer in that hot car with no way to help him could be like our Heavenly Father watching his son Jesus Christ suffer for all of us in Gethsemane. It was a scary situation but at the same time it was a learning experience and a good reminder that Heavenly Father is aware of us and always has been.