Lessons from silver linings.

My laptop got stolen last night.  During a softball game.  At least 8 cars were broken into.  Juli's was one of them.  I know, I know... I shouldn't have left it in the car, but "the car park is out of the way" and "we park here all the time" and "I don't want it to get rained on" and "it'll be fine in the back of the van."  Wrong.

I sent Shay down to the car park to check things out as soon as we got word that several cars had been hit.  The one, tiny flicker of hope I had was already being snuffed out by the sinking feeling in my stomach.  Of all the days to have my computer with me, why did it have to be this one?

My phone rang.  It was Shay.  Calling to tell me what I already knew.  It was gone.  Along with my oh-so-awesome orange Patagonia bag that I'd had since college, 30 euro, the Smith's satnav, and Shay's 3 euro sunglasses.

My first thought was about all the things that were stolen with my laptop.  The things that are inside of it.  The things that are worthless to the ones who took it, but priceless to me. My music.  My pictures.  Thousands of pictures.  Pictures of people I love.  Pictures of places I love.  Pictures of a dog I love.  Snapshots of my life, squeezed into a gigabyte of space.  When did my computer become so much more than a computer?  I may not have "big barns" full of "plentiful crops", but I did have a lot of "stuff" tucked away in 4 pounds of metal.  Storing up treasure is a tricky thing (Luke 12:16-21).

Then, in the midst of all the anger and frustration and sadness and kicking-myself-for-being-so-careless, came a slow trickle of realizations that made the terrible situation a little less terrible:

*it really is JUST A COMPUTER.
*I still have my phone... at least that wasn't in the car too.
*they left a lot of important things behind, like my bank cards and my Starbucks card and my immigration card and the cool double-zipper pouch that took me hours to figure out how to make.
*school's already finished for the summer, so I don't have to rewrite any essays.
*I had just paid Juli the 16 euro I owed her, so they only got 30 euro instead of 46... essentially saving me 32 euro (that's funny math, I know, but it makes me feel better, so please don't correct it).
*they broke into a car, not my apartment, so I can still feel safe in my home.
*some of those thousands of pictures are on Facebook (according to the softball team, the picture of my "Jane Fonda" headband and swimsuit/leotard is the most important of them all).
*I hit a triple in last night's game.
*the Creator of the universe holds me in the palm of His hand.  He is sovereign and faithful and loving beyond all measure.  Nothing can rob me of the immense treasure I find in Him.
*it's just a computer.

To God be the glory.  Amen!

Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   --Matthew 6:19-21