Eating some Humble Pie

So I was asked to speak in church on Sunday, and as I was talking with Carissa about my topic, and brainstorming a bit, I decided that I want to share a story with you all.  I had thought about posting it a few days after it happened, but procrastinated and then never did it.  I typed this up earlier in my notes for my talk as a possibility for sharing, so here it is.

 Just two weeks ago, as I was getting ready to head out of town, I had the car packed and everything ready to go except for just one thing.  My keys, and they were gone.  Unexplainably, they had disappeared to the Land of Lost Things – a place with which my belongings are familiar.  For 45 minutes I tore my house apart, looking in the bathroom, my car, even the refrigerator and cupboards.  I had multiple thoughts to myself throughout this process that I should stop and say a prayer for help.  Out of a combination of pride, and feeling silly about doing something so cliché I refused, and still I searched.  Finally, at my wits end, about ready to call my sister and tell her I wasn’t coming to see her after all, I humbled myself and dropped to my knees in my bedroom.  I didn’t say anything particularly profound, just apologized for my stubbornness and asked for help in finding what I sought.  As I closed my prayer and looked up, I could see – and from where I was kneeling I could even reach – the keys I had so frantically looked for.  All the while, within my reach.  A hint of “I told you so” came floating through my mind, and as my face flushed and my humiliation because to rise, the softness of the Spirit came over me and I realized that I had learned a valuable lesson.  No problem is too small or too trivial, and most importantly - if ye ask in faith, ye shall receive!  It is an accumulation of these small, but profound experiences that has built my testimony to where it is now.  

Obviously, I'm not perfect in my faith, but by using experiences like this, I can strengthen my faith, and increase my conviction to keep myself humble and respond to promptings when I receive them.  If I can't be trusted to respond to a prompting so trivial as a prayer for help, how can I expect to be trusted with promptings regarding the spiritual or temporal welfare of the sisters with which I have now been entrusted?  This has been some food for thought for me the last couple weeks, and I have sincerely committed myself to recognizing and responding to the promptings I am given.  I am very grateful for the tender lessons I learn in life, for by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.