GOD IS GOOD...Man is not.

I know that this statement rings true everyday in my life, but sometimes I am reminded of this in such an obvious way. Like Wednesday, July 4. We were on vacation. Headed to Atlanta and then on to Savannah. We packed the car early that morning and took off. My children are great travelers and so the trip went pretty smooth...at least we thought so.

When we got to Atlanta, Gary (my father-in-law) started looking for his camera. It was no where to be found. There was an easy explaination for this, right? He kicked it out when he got out of the car and did not see it. Then Clint began unloading the luggage, and guess what...his luggage was missing. There was also an explaination for this, right? He forgot to pack his luggage in the car. However, there were some flaws in these explainations...
(1) Surely Gary would have felt his 25 pound camera (or at least heard it) if it fell out.
(2) Clint is not the forgetful type, and was absolutely sure that his luggage went in the back first.

So, Clint began proclaiming "we've been robbed". Much like Margaret on Dennis the Menace. We started thinking about the events of the day, and it all started coming together. Clint said that Betty and I though that we were on CSI. The only time that we all got out of the car at the same time,was at a rest stop in Alabama. As we started discussing things, there were some obvious clues (the we so ovbiously missed). First of all, when we got in the car, Isabelle immediately asked where her helium balloon was that we had gotten at lunch? Which we assumed had flown out (without us noticing) when we opened the doors. Next, there were the Bibles that had been under the drivers seat, which were thrown to the back on top of the luggage that was left. Which Clint noticed, but assumed that they were bothering Betty's feet and she moved them. However, none of this caught our attention, until our investigation began.

So here goes...Clint and Camon got out of the car (because Camon was "dying") and RAN to the restroom. The rest of us took our time and then went in. While we were in there (5 min max) someone opened our doors and took the camera and luggage. Naturally, I thought that Clint forgot to lock the doors, because he was in a hurry to get Camon in the restroom. However, the next morning, Clint noticed that the drivers door handle was scratched and dented. Boy, did I have to apoligize. These people knew exactly what they were doing. They were fast and fixed the door handle so that it was not obvious to us when we went to get in the car. We did not even suspect anything until we were 3 hours down the road. There is no telling how many people they robbed that day.

Now to the Blessings:
(1) NO ONE WAS HURT! When I came out of the building Clint and Camon were standing on the curb by the car looking down a hill in front of them. They could have easily been jumped by these people.
(2) Clint's wallet, my purse, and Betty's purse were all sitting right there. Betty's was under a blanket, but right in the floor by the seat where the Bible's were pulled out and thrown (the nerve of these people).
(3) The laptop that I brought from work was sitting right by the back door. If they would have had time to open it, I am sure that it would have been taken (and me responsible).
(4) Gary bought a new camera - one that weighs less than a pound and doesn't wait 10 minutes for the shutter to flash.
(5) They got Clint's luggage and not mine. Because I am sure that there would have been a huge fight over him leaving my luggage, and then I really would have had some apoligizing to do.

So the moral of this story... "It's just stuff, and you can't take it with you when you GO!". Oh, and also never leave your car unattended!!!!! Anyway, we are in Atlanta now and having a good time, despite the events of our first day.