Key to a Miracle

Not everyone has the key to a Chevy mounted in a frame. In fact, I think I just might be the only person who would have such a thing, especially because the truck it belongs to doesn't even belong to me. But, I do have such a key. How it came into my possession is a story and a half.

My granddaughter Rachel and her family, including Jan, her mother in law, came to the cabin over the 4th of July weekend in 2007. As the weekend drew to a close, everyone was getting their things packed up and ready for the drive home. Rachel was packing for her kids and Kris, her husband was moving bags and suitcases around. Jan decided to move her truck a bit closer to the cabin to facilitate the packing process.

After a short while, I noticed Rachel, Kris and Jan standing around Jan's truck, peering into the windows and looking hopeless. I came outside to investigate and they shared with me that Jan had inadvertently left her keys in the ignition of the truck, and then locked the doors out of habit and shut the door with the keys hanging in the ignition, and the truck turned off.

We began considering the options. It was nearly 6pm on the last day of a holiday weekend. Our options were severely limited. Locksmiths were closed for the holidays. The nearest car dealership that could fabricate a new key for the car was over 10 miles away, and they were also closed for the holiday weekend. We were running out of time and ideas, short of smashing the car window. Jan had to get back to the Twin Cities for work the next day. No one wanted to break the window.

Kris stood staring at the ground, looking for anything that might trigger the conception of the perfect solution to this dire situation. All of a sudden, his eyes drifted over a spot on the sand and immediately snapped back to where they'd been a second before.

"What's this?" As he pointed to a bright speck on the ground, he was already moving toward it.

On the ground immediately next to the rear left tire of the truck was an unscuffed and completely new-looking car key for a Chevrolet. He picked it up. It was unadorned with key chain or other decoration.

Everyone swore they'd never seen it before, and we'd been standing around looking this way and that for over thirty minutes, trying to find a way into the truck. Jan did not recognize it, it wasn't hers. No one else present drove a Chevy. There wasn't any way for the key to be on the ground, but there it was, now in Kris's hand.

I told him to try it in the door. After all, if it didn't work, we wouldn't be any worse off than we already were. Kris stuck the key in the door lock and surprisingly, it slid right in. But, we were heartbroken to find that it wouldn't turn in the lock. More out of frustration than anything else, I told him to try it on the passenger side door. He looked at me skeptically and walked around the truck to try it, knowing that it wouldn't work. Like the driver door, the key went in, but when Kris gave it a twist, the door unlocked.

We all stood in the yard staring at each other and at the truck, and then at the key. I don't remember who talked first or what they said, but everyone knew that what just happened was beyond rational explanation. I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways, but that day, He gave us a key to a locked car, and everyone was able to return home according to plan. Jan agreed; the key was put there by a higher power.

She gave the key to me as a reminder of what we witnessed that July afternoon, and that's why I have the key to a Chevy mounted in a frame.