Oops!

Yesterday, after a busy morning at Schiphol Airport to say farewell to a number of departing missionaries, followed by the arrival of the Kempenaers family to pick up their son Jorne, we decided to take a walk to clear our heads and catch our breath…

Heading towards the Vliet, we found that it was completely frozen over.

Although, there was also a clear indication that a boat or two had snaked through the ice.

It was a delightful, albeit chilly walk into town, to pick up one or two groceries.

It was nice to chat too with Matalyn Weaver, who is staying with us for a couple of days before returning home on Monday.

Eventually, we arrived back home.

And then it happened….!

I reached into my pocket to get the keys for the front door.

𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐒!

Somehow, I’d managed to pick up the wrong keys…

I am not certain how many times over the last 18 months I’ve given missionaries a hard time about forgetting their housekeys.

It is a regular occurrence!

Weekly, if not daily for many!

And now it had happened to me…

Of course, it just had to be the coldest day of winter too.

Well, departures week is always a rollercoaster of emotions for me – for sure. At least that’s my excuse!!

With no spare key, I had to make a rather embarrassing call to the Assistants to come to our rescue.

They smiled and laughed.

In fact – they smiled and laughed – a lot!

To be fair – we laughed too….!

Luckily, they live only 15 minutes away and it wasn’t too long before they arrived and saved us from the chilly winter weather.

And the moral of today’s story – perhaps I should have heeded my own advice, to “slow down!”

Laughter is a great medicine.

When did you last make a silly mistake?