Santa in Disguise

Get your popcorn...this is going to be a post of epic length(ooh and content!).

Amanda and I were huffing through Day 7 of The Shred...the phone rings...I answer...it's Allen...I huff(as I am doing "butt-kicks" in place) "can I call you back?..."not really" he replies..."I need a ride home--my car was stolen..."Are you jacking with me?" I say..."Would I really call you and pretend that the car was stolen?"..."I don't know, would you?"..."Hon, someone stole the car"..."What the(fill in the blank here)?"

Allen calls the stolen car into the police. They have already recovered the vehicle at this point. Apparently, as the thief left the bank parking lot he cutoff a cop at high speed--anytime you leave a bank in a burst of speed--they are going to assume the worst. Yep, the cop thought he had robbed the place.

Said thief then proceeded to be chased by the blue and whites for a block or so, where he deftly crashed the car(ours) into the snowbank! He then exited the car via the door and ran off on foot...Pretty sure he was in a T-shirt as his coat was left behind with the $312 price tag still on it. (Sadly, the tag doesn't say where it is from, or I would return it to the store, as I am pretty sure he stole that too!)

Okay, so here is where the ministry comes in...this is the good part.

Allen tells the officer he will drive the vehicle home--the officer says "no, we need it for evidence". Allen says my father in law may tow it for me, the police say "nope, we have to have our company tow it".

The police give Allen a ride home--which was awesome of them, by the way--usually they don't do that.

Fast forward 18 hours...police call Allen and inform him that he can pick up the car...which has a flat tire. But prior to picking it up, he must pay $270 for the tow truck(which we tried to refuse to begin with).

Allen calls me and says, "maybe you want to call them?". Of course I want to call them(note the sarcasm). I have nothing better to do with my time.

I call. The officer tells me that we are responsible for the tow charge. I argue back with tact, but firmly. He agrees to "look into it" and "see what his boss will do", but says, "don't expect a miracle...we have never done anything like this before." I politely remind him that it is Christmas.

I feel like I won't be hearing back from him until much later today, as his boss, "has some meetings."

Shockingly, I get a phone call 10 minutes later...the officer tells me that "his boss is doing something he never does, he is covering the tow charge." He reminds me again that "he is not sure why my boss is doing this..must be because it is Christmas."

I say, "God Bless the ______ Police Department", and I get off the phone.

If you didn't catch that, I said Christmas. We all know why he was doing it--God told him to. The first call notified me that they impound 300-400 cars per year--they can't pardon all the charges. Well, they pardoned mine--ah, thank-you Jesus is in order! Respectively, ah thank-you Jesus.

After this call, my mom pulls up in her car to take me and my sister to lunch. Rachel's(sis) birthday is tomorrow...we get to celebrate today. During the lunch, I talk about the car being stolen and the details that goes with that...in the middle of the conversation I mention that the thief left an electric guitar in the backseat of our car, which we get to keep.

About a minute prior to this, Rachel has been telling me about her friend...he is going through a divorce, just moved back here with his little son, and cannot(like many people) find work. He has a few gifts for his kid, but nothing for himself--his parents and family no longer give him any Christmas gifts. She,although she struggles sometimes making ends meet herself, felt like she had to give out of the Jesus in her heart.

So back to the car story...as I am mentioning the whole guitar in the backseat deal, Rachel's eyes light up..."guitar?" she manages to choke out. All my friend wanted was an electric guitar! She says, "I wanted to get him one, but I can't afford it. Maybe I can buy that one from you?"

Of course, I say yes! And I tell her to put the $$ toward the repair bill.

My brother goes to tow the car home. They get it back to the shop. Bad news...the tire was the only damage we knew of...come to find out we need a rear hub assembly and a new rim. Additionally, we have to pay a mechanic to do this. All in all, we are looking at $400 to get the car back on the road. Also, he cracked the front bumper--which now needs to be replaced and painted. Who knows how much that will be?

On the upside--the tire is fine! Just needed air, when thief cracked the rim, the tire deflated!

Okay, here are the ministry points:

Cops get a "God Bless You"
Sister gets a prayer answered
Down and out kid gets a new (used) guitar
Brother gets to do a good deed
Mechanic gets work
and I get to write a check for about $400+

Where does my blessing come in?? Well, the fact that I can even write the check is a huge blessing. We struggle like any other family, and Allen had a good month at work. So our bills were paid for the month. I had another paycheck coming in on Friday--which I was going to put into savings--you know "for when something happened..a little cushion". Well sadly, something happened--not what I expected, but at least the $$ is there.

And the thief? Well I can only hope that he comes to meet an inmate who knows my Father. Tough love?!? I think so. Hate the sin, not the sinner.

I am on fire for all God is doing in my life--I pray that you can "hear" the excitement in my writings. If you don't, please tell me so I can ramp it up!