But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21
We have had an opportunity to learn more about the meaning of this verse over the last couple of weeks. I would like to say what we've learned is due to a study in hermeneutics, or something equally sophisticated, but the truth is that we actually had someone "break in and steal" our stuff.
Last Monday we started off our week by cleaning up fingerprint dust from our front door and canceling credit cards. Sunday night while we were sleeping we had someone walk into our living room and take my purse/Koa's diaper bag and then walk back out the front door and take our car. Two days later we were called in the middle of the night with the news they had found our car. About a day and a half later we had the chance to go with the insurance agent to look at it and a few days later got the news that it was totaled.
Unfortunately we had just finished a very busy weekend and the MDX still had a lot of our stuff packed in it and the thief dumped all of it somewhere along the way. Both of Koa's strollers were in the car, along with his car seat and some toys. My sewing machine and Stroller Strides equipment are gone. The list goes on, but I won't. It was really quite disheartening.
We have all been very busy this past couple of weeks doing things like replacing IDs, shopping for car seats and strollers, picking up police reports and completing lots of insurance forms. It hasn't been fun, but very necessary. We've finished some tasks, and some are still in the works, but we are making progress.
In all of this we have also been very well supported by our wonderful friends and family. As many of you know, our alternate car is a Mazda pick up truck. Since it is not as safe (and really quite uncomfortable) for Koa to ride in the front seat, we traded cars with some very good friends, the Rudders. As is fitting for this whole situation, the window motor in our truck died right after we traded with them and the part we need to fix it is on the mainland. It should be here in a week or so. Then we can make an appointment to get that fixed. As for now, Brad rigs the window with an ingenious plastic bag invention when he is not driving to discourage the rain from pooling inside the truck.
One of the things we kept coming back to while we were in the midst of this adventure was how we bought a house in this neighborhood largely because it has so little crime. We checked all the police reports before we bought. Even the officer who reported to the scene kept mentioning how he had never heard of this kind of thing in this area.
We can do plenty of research to find the safest neighborhoods, the safest cars, the safest car seats but in reality, this is not where our security lies. We have Someone much greater and more powerful in whom to put our trust and to give thanks to when we all escape unharmed and all together. We have so much for which to be grateful as we approach this holiday season and most of all today I am thankful that our treasures do not lie on this earth where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.
