Story Time!

a text

no one wants to receive!

I was recently in Kentucky speaking at a ladies' retreat!

I got off the stage and sat down next to my mom and my watch buzzed with a notification.

I quickly glanced down and saw a text from Jesse that said, "So, my truck was stolen."

Jesse is a joker and super sarcastic, but saying his truck was gone is not something I would think he would joke about, but I responded with, "are you kidding me?"

I face-timed with him and the kids an hour before when they were on their way to this Chinese Buffett. Me being out of town was the perfect reason or excuse for Dad to treat them to it. I don't love buffets, and it's like 20 minutes away from us, so I always nix it when it's brought up.

So being the fun dad, Jesse is, he treats them to all-you-can-eat Chinese food, and the kids are in heaven.

When they finish up and walk out into the small parking lot, they don't see Jesse's big, lifted with giant tires, F250. I mean, it would be hard to misplace, but Jesse thinks, Maybe I parked it on the other side and forgot. The kids were razzing him, saying, oh no! It got stolen. They all chuckled but quickly realized that is exactly what happened. 😵‍💫

Jesse calls the police, tells the restaurant what happened, and immediately opens his ford app. (fun fact; if you have a Ford 2019 or newer, you can download the ford app, and it has a lot of great features!)

He was able to watch where the truck was going, and the police were tracking it. But getting a truck back once stolen is pretty slim. We live right off of I35, and these things happen a ton.

So our best friend, Matt, came to the rescue, picked Jesse and the kids up, and took them home.

Eventually, what felt like a whole day. Jesse's truck stopped moving, and the police could track it down. It was very recognizable because Jesse had gone to get Zeke jeep new (to us) tires the day before. SO yeah, the five tires Jesse had just bought were stolen in the back of the truck. HA! 😂

But because of that, the police were able to recognize it.

The police got it, called Jesse, fingerprinted it, and returned it to the rightful owner!

I mean, seriously. How weird. It was out of our possession for two almost three hours. Jesse got it back and talked with insurance and bad-a-bing. It's in the shop getting fixed.

We have since heard of many trucks like Jesse's being stolen in our area. Trucks are being taken down to the border, stripped, wrecked, and I was reading an article about these vehicles being used for human and drug trafficking—what a mess.

I am so impressed

with how calmly Jesse held it together and led our kids!

To wrap this story up, here is what we are doing to protect our vehicles and learn from this experience.

+ We don't leave our keys in the car anymore. Having that push-button start is just so easy, right?! Before, I would leave my key in the vehicle and use the pin pad to unlock it. I tend to misplace my key, so this was just handy. Well, not anymore.

+ We are also not leaving bags, purses, computers, or anything else valuable or seemingly valuable in the car.

+ We are locking the cars again seems obvious, but, ya know. And we are getting an extensive alarm system for the truck! If you are interested, I can let you know which one Jesse gets when he picks it out!

+ We are not living in fear. We are thankful we have insurance, and we know that we have it for a reason. No one loves insurance until you need it.

The crazy thing is, I have a friend who lives in San Antonio and their truck was stolen this week! They did not get it back, and I am just gutted for them. I can't believe these things happen.

When the truck was gone, and I was in a different state and of NO HELP to my husband or kids, I texted my boys and asked how their dad was.

This was their response. I am SO proud of how Jesse led them in this wild state.

Meanwhile, I sat outside this beautiful lodge and cried out to the Lord. I was so stressed out and mad that this would even happen. And I heard the verse, Cast your cares on the Lord. He cares for you. 1 Peter 3:7

A verse that I was praying over our month. So I sat there and took my feelings and cares and tossed them to the Lord. I closed my eyes and thought, okay, what am I worried about?

I would think about it and toss it.

Think it and toss it. I prayed that verse.

"God, I believe that you care for me, for my family, and about something as silly as our truck. It's okay if it's gone forever. You will make away. I trust you. And I trust that you care."

This was an excellent opportunity for me to practice trusting Him. I am not saying it is why the truck came back. But I know that my heart was less troubled after I surrendered.

So I want to encourage you today. If you are having a rough day, week or month. I want to encourage you to sit back and think, What is causing me to worry, stress or pain?

Take time to think these things out, and if you need to write it out, then toss it to the Lord. He cares for you!