giveaway (winner) & the one that got away

we have a winner!

congrats christine!

(you can read christine's blog here)

and then, the one that got away.

do you remember how last week matt's car got stolen from the church parking lot?

well, they found it.

and my friends, this car is no longer in our family.

(insert sad face here)

short version?

whoever stole it totally destroyed it inside and out.

they stole all of matt's books from the trunk, 

his cd's (he was taking them to his office)

and

our girls' toys & books  that we keep for longer trips.

then, they filled the inside and the trunk full with random stuff- trash, clothes, suitcases.

then they just destroyed it:

spray painted it, ripped off windshield wipers, all the mirrors, smashed all the windows, crashed the front of the car, wrecked our car seat.

obviously his car isn't worth much 

(so we didn't have comprehensive coverage on it, 

so unfortunately now we just eat the loss plus pay the impound fee of $300)

but it was sad to see 

his car in this state.

in the midst of it i am grateful to have friends who lent us a car in the meantime, people in our life who support us in amazing ways, a healthy family, and my own old car that is still safe and sound in our driveway. there is so much to be thankful for, even when things like this happen- i don't have to worry about whether my children will eat tonight or if i have a bed to sleep in. so many other people in this world deal with such issues of injustice and lack that his seems minor.

and in the end, 

someone is in a desperate and broken enough place to do this to someone else's property, 

which makes me most sad.

(can you tell i've had some time t simmer down? i was all fired up at the robbers on saturday, but i've since mellowed out. don't get me wrong, i still think they are lame, but i kind of pity them.)