January 1

And with that, I'm starting year four of this blog. Given that I wasn't sure I'd even make it a month, it's stunning to me that it's come as far as it has.

With that said, I'll fully admit that I'm incredibly jet lagged and that my thinking is beyond muddy right now. We arose at 5:15 Eastern time this morning, drove to BWI, boarded a plane to Oakland, and arrived at about 11:15 local time. So though my computer's clock says it's just 6:37 PM, it feels more like midnight. But I have a tale to tell to kick off 2016. (Though the photo isn't strongly related to the story, it's one of few that I took today and it's kinda-sorta related so it works!)

In an attempt to avoid the obscene cost associated with parking on airport property (and because Adam didn't feel comfortable asking anyone to drive us since we had a relatively early flight to Maryland), we opted to park at an off-site lot. It seemed all good until we got to the car this afternoon and the owner didn't have our keys. Both Adam and I had an identical clear memory of him handing the man the keys as he dropped us off at the terminal, but he insisted that we'd taken them. So we were stuck and a little panicked over the idea that our house and car keys could be literally anywhere. I suggested that perhaps a call to the police might jog his memory, but the guy just shrugged and said to go ahead and call. Adam had him go through every single set of keys on his wall, but no dice. We were super blessed that our friend John, who spent the whole two weeks we were gone taking care of feeding our cat and watering our Christmas tree, was willing to drive out to Oakland to bring us our other set, but still, we stressed. (Or maybe it was just me stressing.) I silently prayed that the keys would just mystically show up out of thin air... and then, well, as utterly unbelievable as it sounds, they did just that.

After searching through all of our bags, I was stunned when Adam pulled the keys from the front pocket of his backpack during one final, ostensibly futile check. I think we both were, to be honest. After all, we both remembered the rainy morning we left when Adam handed the attendant to keys and we turned to go into the airport. But there they were, as if they'd been there all along.

I almost cried in relief when I saw them, and I immediately wondered if Logan had something to do with their sudden and virtually miraculous appearance. As we settled in for the ride home, the kids were unanimous with their opinion: it was God. They were sure of it. And so am I.

Kind of a cool way to start the new year, I think.