As you probably read, my wife and I drove down to Fort Worth for a Christian conference this week. The venue is in downtown Fort Worth. So parking is…interesting.
The official Convention Center parking garage is $20 with NO in or out privileges.
You can also choose $10 for a 24 hour pass WITH in and out privileges. You say, what’s not to like about that? Well, there are no shade trees on or anywhere near the lot, so your car will bake in the hot (and I mean hot!) Texas sun all day.
The third option is a $2/hour with a 2 hour maximum Pay to Park option on the streets. You are probably wondering, why would anyone ever choose that? Well, there’s that shade thing I mentioned…
As you can probably guess, I chose the last option. I figured that the speakers go about an hour each, so I’ll just slip outside, put more money in the meter, … and Bob’s your uncle!
Well this afternoon, I slipped out to do just that. I took a different path than the previous two days and stumbled upon a path that had shade for an entire block…
Yeah, boy!
As I crossed the street, I could see my car about a half a block away…still barely in the shade. I reached in my pocket to grab my key, and…Wh-a-a-a-t?
I checked the other pocket.
N-o-t-h-i-n-g!
I checked the first pocket again, just in case my pen and chapstick got in the way…
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME…THIS CANNOT BE.
My mind raced trying to replay what I did when I got out of the car…
Nothing unusual that I remember.
Did I do anything unusual in the meeting? No. I mean, I only have two pockets! One is for my wallet, and the other is for my car key, pen and chapstick. There’s not a lot of transferring or shuffling around going on.
At this point, I am praying. “Lord, this cannot be. I’m in Texas. The spare key is back in Colorado.”
Just then I looked up to see three business type guys (no suits, just standard office attire) walking by my car. I saw the big guy at the back of the three look at my car as they walked by. He then looked back at it like he saw something that wasn’t right, but, not wanting to be left behind, kept walking with his buddies.
Although I was completely in disbelief, I can honestly say that I wasn’t afraid. I mean, if I really did lose my key, I would just have to deal with it. It might cost a bunch of money AND time, but…I really wouldn’t have a lot of options.
As I continued walking toward the car, I kept staring at the front passenger door. The surface didn’t quite look the back passenger door.
As I kept walking, I grew more certain that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Then, when I was sure that there was something different…
“Oh my gosh! You have GOT to be kidding!”
There was my key still in the front passenger door lock, sticking out for anyone and everyone to see!
That is what the big guy saw! And he just kept walking!
I mean there was nothing stopping whoever from just starting my car and driving off with it!
You talk about thanking God…
And then, and I’m NOT ashamed to say this, I started to cry because God protected me when I didn’t even know I needed His protection!!!
Praise God!!! From whom ALL blessings flow!
It turns out that I left the key in the door when I went back to get my wife’s conference admission badge on the floor of her seat. I grabbed the badge, closed the door and started walking to give it to her.
