Overlooking the Obvious (Again)

But I Looked There Three Times!

Snow was in the forecast. Big snow. Record-breaking snow. And I wanted to be prepared with my best ski jacket, a light purple number with a matching fleece inner jacket.

But that jacket was in storage, not in the RV.

Organized Storage (NOT)

Last fall we packed up our house in Alabama, preparing to move into our fifth wheel. With plenty of moving experience under our belts, you might have thought by now I’d have a foolproof system to keep track of every box. But if you’ve seen this post, The Mystery of the Lost Box, you already know I didn’t think it through very well this time, either.

Still, since we did finally find that lost box (hooray for my silicone spatula!), and since my phone had a clear photo of the box my ski jacket was in, I had high hopes of quickly locating it in our storage unit. Roger sat in the truck finishing errands via phone while I systematically checked each box in the storage unit. Twice.

The result? I shifted nearly every box and tub in the place. No ski jacket.

That evening, it occurred to me—could I have moved the jacket to a suitcase? It was entirely possible. I’d moved lots of things to “better places” during the packing process. We headed back to Overflow Garage (BTW, what a great name for a storage place).

Disappointment again. Not in a suitcase. So I started through the boxes again. And there it was. I'd overlooked the obvious. A box clearly labeled, “Julie’s nightstand stuff, purple jackets.”

Two days after finding the jackets I was so grateful to have them. Oklahoma got hit with lots of snow, along with much of the country. Since my brother-in-law (who so thoughtfully provided a double-wide driveway plus RV hookups) had a snow shovel, the least I could do was put it to good use.

How Do We Miss the Obvious?

Why did I miss the clear label I was looking for? I wanted to find it. It wasn’t written in Swahili. It was on the side of the box facing me. So what happened?

Maybe I was overstressed. An oncoming storm, concern about frozen RV pipes, wondering whether 800 miles was too far to drive to escape, and besides all that, Roger was waiting for me.

Maybe I was moving too fast. I had blog posts to write, a discussion guide for Turning Your Inner Bullies Into Allies to work on, calls to make, shopping to finish—the checklist was long.

Maybe it was a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. I’d had such a hard time finding the lost box with my silicone spatula; maybe subconsciously I expected to have a hard time finding the jacket box.

What Are We Really Searching For?

Sometimes what we’re searching for is right in front of us, but stress, hurry, or expectation makes us overlook the obvious. Whatever it was, I’m just grateful it didn’t take moving the boxes four times. The jacket wasn’t actually lost. It was right where I packed it. I just needed to slow down—mentally and physically—to find it.

And I wonder how often I do the same thing with the intangibles in life. Sometimes it seems I'm searching everywhere for reassurance, control, or peace, when God has already clearly provided it all through His promises and His provision.

Roger and I drove away from Overflow Garage before dark and finished our prep checklist well before the storm hit. When you find your purple ski jacket—bonus if you find your snow gloves in the pockets—you feel a little more prepared for what’s coming. Not because the storm isn’t real, but because you aren’t distracted by what you couldn’t find.

What's your story of overlooking the obvious? Share in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this story about reassurance in the face of storms, you might like these posts:

When the Wheels Fall Off

We Got Stuck in Black Sand