Locked out leads to panic

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Everything fell into place with a little time to spare. No rushing this time. Hooray! That all changed in a second when the wind sucked the door shut, and I found myself locked out of the house with my purse, keys, and phone sitting on the table inside the door.

All I had wanted to do was retrieve the package on the step before leaving for an important appointment. How could I let this happen?

How many times have I admonished my kids to stay calm in a crisis? Yep. All that flew out the window as adrenalin rushed through my body.

I rushed to our friend whom my daughter, Emily, chatted with to wail, “We’re locked out! Now, we’ll be late. I’m SO sorry!”

Looking for solutions

Rather than be quiet, sit, and pray, I continued to find my own way out of this predicament. I asked our friend to call my daughter who was at a school meeting to ask her to come home.

Meanwhile my mind whirled 100 m.p.h. I thought I would ask a neighbor if he could take the hinges off our locked screened porch door that led to my open house. Then in, my problem would be solved. The first neighbor didn’t answer the doorbell. Seeing another neighbor’s open garage, I dashed across the street and rang their doorbell.

As soon as my neighbor answered her door, I recounted my dilemma so fast she may have only heard her husband’s name and locked out; but they both responded by coming to our rescue. I was not calm. I wasn’t hysterical, but I was jabbering and explaining why this was an emergency: our friend had to get to the hospital for a procedure, and I was the chauffeur.

Staying calm is key

Our ever-cheerful neighbors stayed calm. We tried different tools and methods but couldn’t get in the way I wanted. I refused to slit the screen, figuring I’d be in deep trouble for that. Cocoa barked and tried to scare us off from our efforts. I felt bad for our poor neighbor whose face was so near the screen and the loud, persistent dog.

“It’s okay, Kaitlyn’s coming,” our friend assured me. Still, I knew we shouldn’t be late. My husband was 10 minutes late for an appointment he thought he was 20 minutes early for and had to reschedule. Our friend dreaded this already. Prolonging her agony would be awful.

As we gave up breaking in, I thanked my neighbors for their gallant efforts. Then Kaitlyn arrived with her key. I raced into the house for my purse, thanked God, and apologized again for the disruption.

Story ends well

So, we arrived at the hospital, and all went well. Four hours later, we arrived home where I cared for my drugged-up friend, who stayed overnight.

The averted dilemma taught me to always unlock the front door when retrieving a package on the doorstep or to carry a key in my pocket.

I am glad it all worked out. I am thankful for our neighbors’ help.

Remember to pray first

I’m afraid I failed to stay calm, and I failed to pray first. I’ll continue to work on that. If I had just waited for Kaitlyn, I would have avoided embarrassing myself and not bothered my gracious neighbors.

My husband said I could still have driven to the hospital by driving my friend’s car, but I didn’t want to drive without my license. I also wanted to fulfill my promise. I’m glad it ended well.

When you overreacted to a problem, how did it get resolved?