Wandering around outside

Yesterday as I was sitting in the car, getting ready to leave for "Learning to Listen", there was a little knock on the car door window. It was Harmony--her little nose was red, and she was crying.

I opened the door and gave her a big hug. She had slept in that morning, and I figured that she woke up, was upset that I left without saying goodbye, and Patrick sent her out to say it.

That wasn't the story.

I brought her inside, and Patrick said, "where did you find her?" Uh...I started putting the pieces together.

Henry woke up when I did this morning, and was very unhappy that I wasn't participating in "stay at home" day. So Patrick proposed that he and Henry make a quick run to the new donut shop about three blocks from our house. So they scurried to get dressed and left, while Harmony continued to sleep and I got ready.

As I was in the laundry room looking for clean underwear (blush--nope, I haven't stayed ahead of the laundry), I heard the door click. We have a common front door with the apartment upstairs, and it's normal for the kids not to close our inner door, so I figured it was one of the upstairs guys closing it. But I didn't hear feet on the staircase. Oh well.

Then as I was getting in the car, I saw a girl down the street, wearing a pink coat. I don't know who lives in that house right now, but there have typically been elementary school aged kids who live there, so I thought nothing of it and made a mental note to double check before backing out.

The story that emerged through Harmony's cries is that she heard Patrick and Henry left, and figured that we all did. She didn't want to be left behind, so she put on her boots, hat, scarf, mittens and coat and went to join them...but they had already pulled out (I needed to leave in 10 minutes, so they had to make it a quick trip instead of walking). She thought she had been left behind, but really I had been in the house the whole time.

I comforted her that we would never leave her alone; if we went somewhere, we would tell her and someone would stay with her. She was so upset I didn't scold her for going outside by herself, but clung tightly to her, thinking about all the bad things that could have happened, and praising God that they didn't.

I think I went wandering out of my Father's house yesterday. And unlike Harmony, I got attacked, and hard.

Lord, keep me in your house, in your word and your truth instead of wandering off on my own.