“Oh no!” Dylan groaned as he saw his jacket wadded up in a heap under the dining room window. Before he even picked it up, he had an awful feeling of what he was going to discover.
Sure enough. The key was gone.
“Caden Bradley!” he hollered, desperation edging his voice. “Caden . . . come here this second!”
A blond head appeared around the corner of the door to the kitchen. “What you want?” Dylan’s three-year-old brother inquired innocently.
“Caden, did you move my jacket?”
Caden looked at his brother and nodded his head yes, just once.
“What did you do with the key in my pocket?”
“Key?” Caden looked puzzled.
“You know, key!” Dylan said impatiently. “It was in the pocket and now it’s gone. Where is it?” Caden stood silently, looking blank.
“Come on, Caden. It’s the key to the church and I’ve got to have it. Can’t you remember what you did with it?”
The blond head tipped to one side as Caden considered the problem. Then suddenly he smiled brightly. “Fed it to bear!” he announced triumphantly.
“Caden,” Dylan said grimly. “Mrs. Baker is going to pick me up for junior choir practice in exactly ten minutes. Dad gave me the key to open the door, and he told me not to lose it. Now, how is it going to look if the pastor’s son can’t hang onto the key to the church for one hour?” He squatted down by his little brother. “Where is bear?”
Caden pursed his lips. “Don’t know,” he finally announced sadly.
Dylan groaned. He stooped down and checked beneath the window, running his fingers through the carpet. He went into his bedroom where he had placed his jacket after putting the key in his pocket. The key wasn’t on the bed, or the floor, or in the hall.
A thought flickered through his mind. “Seek and ye shall find . . .” Well, I am seeking, he said to himself. Now I wish I’d find!
All of a sudden, it was just as if a light bulb came on over his head. Do you believe God’s promises still work today? The words echoed through his mind. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the living room. “Do I?” he asked himself.
Last week in Sunday school the lesson had been about Simeon and how he saw God’s promise fulfilled when he held the infant Jesus in his arms. “Simeon believed God,” their teacher had said, “and God kept His promise.” Then she had asked that question. “Do you believe God’s promises still work today?”
Another promise he had learned flashed into Dylan’s mind: “My God shall supply all your need.” Well, he needed to find that key, and fast; Mrs. Baker was due any minute.
If he really believed, then he’d better get ready to go even if he didn’t know where the key was. Slowly he picked up his jacket and shrugged his arms into the sleeves. Then, quickly, he shut his eyes. “God, You know I need that key. Dad told Mrs. Baker I’d bring it, and all the other kids will be waiting. Please help me find it!”
He went to the hall closet, and pulled out Caden’s parka. “C’mon, Caden,” he called to his brother, who had settled down in the corner of the living room with a book while Dylan had hunted for the key. “Better get your jacket on. Mrs. Baker is going to drop you off at the babysitter’s when we go to the church.” Tying his brother’s hood under the little chin, he asked once more, “Did you remember where the bear is?”
Caden nodded. “Sleeping.”
“Sleeping where?” asked Dylan hopefully.
“In bear’s cave.”
Cave, thought Dylan. Cave. Where would a cave be? He looked around the living room. Then a thought popped into his mind . . . try the sofa cushions.
He went over to the sofa and lifted a cushion. In a second, Caden was at his side.
“Cave!” he beamed broadly.
“Is this it . . . ?” the words were hardly out of his mouth when Dylan spotted the bear, flat on his stomach next to the armrest. He grabbed it, and sure enough, under the fat, plush stomach was the key.
“Yeah!” he shouted, holding the key aloft. “We found it!” Just then a horn sounded outside. “Thank You, Lord!”
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