It’s was looking to be a splendid Sunday morning this summer.

The sun rays were piercing right through the sheer curtains of my charming cocinita.

As a working mom, I look forward to my weekend mornings!

It always feels wonderful to not have to rush out of the house.

I especially enjoy waking up before everyone, and have the house all to myself.

QUIET TIME!

Oh! The little things you look forward to when you are a mom of four children.

My husband loves to say that I am an “old soul.”

When I am home, I tend to embrace a slower pace of living.

Apple cinnamon tea, with milk, and a good read.

Cafe con leche mixed with some raw writing.

Throw in a knitted blanket, a scented candle, and freshly cut flowers to the mix, and now your talking my language.

So, there I was sitting on my kitchen table preparing my brief tithe & offering message for church service.

I had decided the day before that I was going to focus on Malachi 3:8- “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.”

As I sat on my table, listening to worship music and reflecting on the scripture, I felt peaceful and thankful for the journey God was taking my family.

As I was doing my hair, my husband asked me where I parked my car.

I told him how I had to block the drive away, since there was no parking.

A few minutes later, he said, “Rosa, your car is not out there.”

Yep, my car was stolen.

I was robbed!

I spent my morning meditating on Malachi 3:8- would a man rob God, and little did I know, I was the one that had been robbed.

I went into full gear! There was no time to throw a temper tantrum about the unfairness of my car being stolen. My husband, the pastor of our church had to preach in a couple of hours.

I went outside to my driveway, and to my surprise there was no glass on the street.

To my unpleasant surprise, my daughter, Naomi and I had left BOTH sets of car keys in the car.

Yes, you read that correctly! Both sets of keys were in the car, plus my daughter’s iPhone. 

My husband used the “Find my iPhone” app to attempt to locate her phone and car.

The app picked up the last location, which was about 2 miles away from our home.

I called the police station, and gave them the address where the “Find my iPhone” had pinged. In the city, you file a report via phone, no officers respond to a report of a stolen vehicle.

My husband and the kids went off to church, while I stood at my house with my dad. Yes, I called my daddy to come stay with me, since the thieves had my house keys.

There I was sitting in the living room with my dad waiting for Rudy- a wonderful friend of our family- to come and change the door locks, my flesh wanted me to be furious!

I know we were leaving for vacation in two days, and the timing of this unfortunate incident wasn’t the best. But, then again, when is it a good time to have your car stolen.

I wanted to throw an all out pity party. My thoughts were…

Why me?!

Don’t I do so much for you, Lord?! 

How can you let this pass your hand?!

I am your child, not them!

They messed with the wrong child of God. I know vengeance isn’t mine, but yours. You’ll take care of them for me!

I am sure my fellow sisters in Christ, can relate to the last statement! How much comfort does it brings us to say that- my daddy will avenge you! You messed with the wrong daddy!

And then it hit me, are these the thoughts God would like for me to have, or act upon?

Absolutely not!

I knew it was time to change my thinking. I needed to be thankful! Even when times are rough, we need to find the silver lining. We need to find God’s grace and mercy!

Thank you God that the thieves didn’t come into our house. They did have the keys.

Thank you God that I have insurance on my car. It will not only be fixed, but it provides me with a rental.

That afternoon, I decided to go about our regular schedule. I didn’t want this unfortunate incident to take away from our plans.

At around 4pm, we were at the park watching my husband’s softball game when my phone rang.

It was a detective. He needed me to send a pic of my husband’s  iPhone with the last pinged location from the Find my iPhone app.

I told the detective that I would feel more comfortable if he came to my house. Shortly afterwards, I received another phone call from a different detective wanting additional information.

My husband became quite suspicious.

For hours, I didn’t hear from the police station. No one cared that my car was stolen, and now, my stolen car was of importance.

Sure enough, as my husband began to piece things together, he found an article about a crime that had taken place near the area were my car was last located.

A drive-by shooting- one more lost life.

When my family and I arrived home, there were three detectives waiting for us.

Here I was concerned about my car being stolen, and an innocent life had been taken away, and my car was being connected to the crime. Can you say- perspective?

They caught the thieves that evening, in the car. They fled and damaged my car.

It’s been two months since then, I would like to say everything is all settled, but that is unfortunately not the case.

It took a month for my car to be released from the police pound. The police department kept my  keys for evidence.

It was an absolute mess trying to get the car out of the pound to the body shop.

It was also a long strenuous process for the insurance company to send an insurance adjuster to inspect the damage.

My car is still in the body shop. I have had to make two payments on a car that I just want to get rid of.

I even received a red-light traffic ticket in the mail that was caused from the fleeing thieves. I had to contest it.

It has been a long, exhausting process.

But, I know I need to find joy in all of this.

The bible says-

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3

And so, I will continue to fight the good fight of faith. I will continue to praise God because He knows all things, and no matter what, I fully trust in His plans for my life!

At end of the day, are we going to continue to worship him regardless of the trials we face, or are we going to fold over and let the enemy declare victory over us! 

It’s our choice to stand firm on His promises, or to be shaken by life’s unfair, unfortunate circumstances that come your way.

It ’s a guarantee that life will bring trouble, but take courage that our God will always have the victory!

If you read this blog, all I ask is that you PLEASE pray for the family that loss the young man to this senseless crime.