It's me, Schmee

The joy of the Lord is my strength!

I will rejoice in the Lord, all the time, for He is my King.  Rejoice!  Rejoice that God is the same today as He was before and always will be!  Rejoice!  Let us be thankful for everything - our sight, all of our phalanges, our teeth, our super-high tech immune system, our minds, our creativity, our vocal cords, (infinite list, you think of what YOU have that you can be thankful for and tell HIM!) - let us be thankful for everything we can do in Christ Jesus!  For if He hath given us breath, then He hath given us purpose in life, and that is worth praise as well.  We must recognize and hone in on our purpose and fulfill it.

THE THIEF

You see, I am compulsive about three things.  My I-phone, My keys, and My wallet.  If at any point I do not know where these things are I begin to loose it.  And by losing it, I mean losing my temper, my control, my sanity - I become somewhat frantic until the rescue mission is complete.  A friend forgot to lock my car tonight as we were out in the city of Angels, upon return my wallet was missing.  I pondered if I had left it at home, but knew that I didn't, because I specifically remembered to bring my license with me since I was driving.  We drove down the road and made a pit stop where my friend exited the car for about fifteen minutes.  During which, I paced, honked, screamed, prayed, paced, thought about how I was going to have to replace every card, driver's license, fight identity theft and so much more.  I was in turmoil and had fully accepted that my wallet was surely stolen.  Amongst my turmoil, I weighed the worst case scenarios.  The worst case scenario was actually the best case.  Even if the thief had spent all my money on all my cards, and stolen my identity and pretending to be me or whatever identity thiefs do; this thief could not take my soul, this thief could not take my spirit, this thief could not take my salvation in Christ Jesus, this thief could not take my joy, oh my joy, this thief could not take my kindness and gentleness unto others, this thief could not take my peace, this thief could not take my love, this thief could not take me.  - Schmee

P.S.  Yes, my wallet was at home...