Key to the Damned

God has a sense of humor. I had lost the keys to one of our riding mowers. I spent several days searching all over the house for them. I found a different key that would start the mower but would fall out as soon as it moved. My wife reminded me to pray and said she had been praying I find the key. The mower also has had an electrical short so I had to charge the battery every time I wanted to use it. I decided to work on that and worry about the key later. As I was taking off the motor housing which was giving me a little trouble, I said out loud God help me find the damned key. The last screw came lose. I lifted the housing and laying on top of the motor was a key. It was slightly bent, a little rusty but it would run the mower. It was not the key I was looking for, no telling how long it had been damned to sit on top of the old motor. I changed the spark plug which was cracked and put on a new starter, put it all back together and the damned key worked just fine. Thank God. I still wonder what happened to the other keys. I am not sure I should pray for lost keys, no telling what I would find. I am sure the joke would be on me. -A. Quintin Smith

In the presence of God

When do you talk to God? When do you pray? Do you only ask God to come to you, to help you in difficult times? Knowing that God wants a relationship with you daily and if you only come to him when things are difficult, is it any wonder that you have more difficult times than you should. I thank God every day for my life, for my wife and family. I need little more but sometimes I ask him for much more anyway. I thank him for the joyful days and the hard ones. Tomorrow is a historical day for the USA. September 11  was once a very hard day. God was present then. He will be present tomorrow. If you came to him when the towers fell because it was a hard day I hope you will praise him for tomorrow even if it is just another ordinary day in your life. I will.