Happy Birthday, Ya'shar!

 Ya'shar turned 9 years old this past Friday!  His sisters and I were in Baltimore, so we had to celebrate a little late.  And where did he choose to eat dinner for his special celebration?  None other than, you guessed it - Red Lobster!!  Again.  I fear that I may never be able to eat another bite of my favorite lobster pizza again.  :)  This was a day that could have had a much different ending.  Yesterday Daryle dropped off three of the children at the pool, where they have been volunteering this summer for community service hours in addition to doing their practices there.  He went on to the gym, and after working out, came out to the car only to find one of the back windows had been smashed in and his work bag/briefcase had been taken, including his credit card holder.  He called me immediately and a flurry of phonecalls ensued.  We stopped all of our credit cards, called the bank, etc.  He called the police who said, "Sorry, we don't really respond to these calls anymore -there are so many of these cases, so just fill out a police report online."  There were no security cameras in the gym parking lot either. 

We prayed.

And amazingly enough, an hour later, Daryle gets a phone call on his cell phone from a man and his wife who found his bag lying in the parking lot at Safeway.  He gave Daryle his phone number and address to his house nearby, and much to my concern he and a friend went over to the guy's house to get it.  The guy, Mike, had found Daryle's cell phone number on a receipt for car repairs that was in his bag.  EVERY SINGLE THING WAS IN THE BAG!  The only thing missing was a $1 bill and a $2 bill that he keeps tucked in a pocket of his card holder.  The big steal of the day, $3.00.....  We can only pray that whoever took his bag got a blessing and maybe a change in heart after looking through the contents of his bag, which had his Bible, sermon notes, and other Christian books!  We called our insurance and our window was replaced a few short hours later.  And on we went to celebrate with our children, very humbled and cognizant that God's protection was on us today.