Thank God for Diet Mountain Dew with Cranberry Crystal Light

I was so ready for my Diet Dr. Pepper with light vanilla. Yummmm.....my yummy Sonic drink was coming and I was anxious to get on the highway headed back to good ole' Lubbock. I pull into the familiar Sonic on I-20 about 15-20 miles outside of Fort Worth. I order my drink and I reach to get some cash to pay for my drink and realize that I can't find my purse. I always keep my purse on the hump in between the seats in my truck. Rather, Rob's truck that I am STILL driving because Robby has my car in Atlanta. But that's another story. I begin to panic. I just put gas in my truck at Sam's...I did not go into the store.....I have not made any other stops....IT HAS TO BE HERE! I try to talk myself down and get out of the truck and open all doors and search everywhere for my purse....IT IS GONE! So, the guy comes out with my drink and I sadly have to tell him that my purse is missing and I'll have to lose my Diet Dr. Pepper with vanilla. I frantically get back on the interstate and head back to Sam's. I begin to plead with God, "Please let this be a mistake...let me find it in some crack nut place and I'll be the dummy, please please please don't let my purse be gone." I call Rob to let him know what is going on. He, of course, does not care about the brand new Kathy Van Zealand purse that Rhoda bought me for Christmas is missing. He does not care that the cool keychain that also goes with the purse is missing. He doesn't even seem phased that my brand new Bare Essentuals makeup and my three favorite lipsticks are gone! He does not care that the receipts for some MTS books that I purchased are missing. He simply says, "Are you okay?" Are you kidding me? Who cares! My purse is missing. I am freaking out and of course, his insensitive comments are not helping. I now realize that I have taken a wrong road and have to get back on track. I call Sam's to see if they will check for me. The sweet young girl tells me it was probably stolen. I'm thinking, "How?" I was right there the whole time pumping my $7.43 worth of gas. I get back to the gas station, I am looking all over the place...in the trash cans...everywhere....it is gone. I am so frustrated! Here's how it must have happened: I pulled into the gas station, opened my driver's door, got my Sam's card and debit card out, got the pump going, put my cards back into my wallet, and then stuck my wallet into my purse that was ON THE HUMP for goodness sakes. Then, I saw the two drink cups and wanted to get the trash out of the truck. I picked them up, turned to put them in the trash, put the gas pump back in place, grabbed my receipt and put my receipt into the compartment that IS THE HUMP and mindlessly drove away. Someone had to have opened the passenger door and grabbed my purse while I was getting the trash and reciept. That is the only thing that makes sense. So, now I am seriously mad at myself. I stood with my driver's door open the entire time so it had to be on the passenger door. Why? Why did I not lock the doors when I got out....I am traveling alone! I am a freak! So, I get back on the interstate and head home.....I am seriously giving God a talking to at this point. "Seriously, God, my new purse, my debit cards, my credit cards, my I.D., my receipts for MTS! Seriously!" This was my stocking gift from Rob...a trip alone to Dallas for a couple of days for just me and God. This was not a happy ending. Okay, now I am down the road, almost to Weatherford I think and I realize, "Oh my goodness! I cannot have anything to drink for 4 1/2 more hours! Oh No!" I am dreaming about my favorite lipsticks. They may not even have those colors again....and I'm no beauty queen, when I find something that works, I grab it. So, I am crying and griping, loudly, to God and I am mad. So, I decide that God is just ignoring me and does not care about my purse situation and so I put in my Robin McGraw book on tape and start listening. Then, at about Sweetwater, it hits me! I have 2 liter Diet Mountain Dew mixed with Cranberry Crystal Light from my hotel room stay. (I stayed in my room all day and wanted to have something yummy to drink) I quickly pull over on the side of the road, jump out and excitedly find my warm 1/2 full 2 liter bottle. Woo Hoo! I was so excited. And....I found 1/2 snack bag of caramel rice cakes. I had hit paydirt! I was hungry and so very thirsty! Now, it had only been 8 hours or so since I had eaten lunch, but I was so excited. So, I happily got into my truck, thanked God over and over and over and turned Ms. McGraw back on and drove on home. Things were looking up. Yes, I was still mourning the loss of my purse and my lipstick but suddenly, I felt better.

The lesson for me: After I got home...laying in bed thinking about my day, I began to realize that maybe God was trying to show me something. When things look horrible and life feels unfair and wrong...if I just calm down and seek out God's Word and time with Him, I'll feel much more at ease. That does not mean that I'll "get my purse back" but maybe, just maybe it's not as bad as it seems. While I was freaking out, I was not able to think clearly and remember that I did have something to drink and something to at least snack on with me the whole time! At the time, I wanted my Diet Dr. Pepper with vanilla and that seemed to be the only thing that would work for me. I think I live my life like this sometimes. I want what I want and I get so focused on that...I'm living a pretty good life, I try to be available for God. I try to do a good job with being a wife and mom and with my COTR job. But I get kind of in zombie mode...just going along..saying my prayers here and there...doing a few good deeds...and I don't allow myself to ever feel thirst or hunger for God. Nothing horrible is going on in my life to make me seek Him out and so I never allow myself to get hungry for Him. When I was feeling thirsty and hungry, what was available to me the whole time had been sitting in the back seat because I was freaking out and not even taking the time to ask Him to be with me or guide me. I know it might seem like a stretch to some that I learned a lesson from this...but seriously, I did. I want to be more thirsty and hungry for Him. I think this is how I need to be with my eating too. I get so upset that I can't lose weight but I freak out at the thought of not getting to eat what I want or at the idea of being hungry. Maybe I have to learn to allow myself to be hungry or thirsty.....I don't know...just my thoughts.

The sort of happy ending: A nice lady found some of the contents of my purse dumped in a parking lot across the interstate. She picked them up and sent them fed-ex. I got my wallet with my i.d., my Sam's card and remarkably...the only thing missing from my wallet was my cash (about $30-40), debit card, and a couple of gift cards. My credit cards were even still in the hidden pocket. Of course, we had already cancelled them, but I know that they did not get used. All of the MTS receipts were there. Even my cool keychain was there. Sadly, the awesome purse and my three lipsticks were gone along with some other makeup...but all in all, it was not as bad as I had originally thought. I choose to believe that God gave me back some of my stuff because I was willing to learn from this...at least a little lesson...well maybe two...I also have to remember to lock my doors when I pump gas now.