In a slight panic, although he would never admit it, The Hub was charging through the house looking for his laptop. I was just trying to get some peace and quiet and some church work done so I must admit I wasn't being all that helpful. I hadn't seen it since Sunday when we packed up the church equipment at the school we rent for services.
After several searches The Hub decides it has to have been forgotten at the school. We travel the long mile to the school and speak with our friendly janitors about it. They make the experience of renting the school worth it. They are always helpful, courteous and friendly. They searched with us but the laptop was nowhere to be found. We tried retracing our steps and we gleefully ignored Oldest as he clowned his dad for losing something. "You never lose anything, dad. This is amazing. You really need to get yourself together. How could you misplace that?" I am sure he was pleased to have the opportunity to shoot some of his dad's own lecturing back at him. When it comes to losing things Oldest has that program mastered.
Unfortunately, we just couldn't figure out where that laptop could have gone. We traveled the long mile back home and searched some more. Well, The Hub searched. I can't say that I was being very helpful at the time either. It then occurred to The Hub that perhaps we should have checked the school office. Logic being that if it had been seen, perhaps it had been turned into the office. Why we didn't do that with the first school search go-round, I can't tell you. So back down the long mile to the school we go. We enter the dark office (it is after 5pm) and The Hub hollers "helloooo???" The assistant principal pops out and shares some enlightening info.
Turns out that the night before, somewhere around 3am, the school's security alarm went off. The police responded and found the roof hatch on the school ajar, whatever that means. When they arrived they noticed a black laptop bag propped up against the door...outside the school. Immediately identified as a suspicious package. They carried that suspicious laptop bag to the police station and gave the school the police report which we now stood in the darkened office and read with the assistant principal.
Well, great news is it had been found. Not so great news would have been that we now get to conquer the Fairfax County Police Department's suspicious package processing techniques. Poor Hub. He spent way too long speaking with an officer on the phone, who it seemed wanted to be doing anything other than retracing a recently admitted laptop bag. Finally, it was discovered that the laptop was there at the police station, in holding, in preparation for travels to the "Main Stock Room." Sounded scary. And far away.
We rushed to visit our fine ladies and gentleman in blue and grey. After a slight, inexplicable delay we were reunited with the laptop. Everything in tact, found outside the school propped up against the building near the door. Definitely a suspicious package. Shoot, if I was the police officer responding I don't think I would have ventured to open that thing. Could have been a bomb, friends!
As we pondered on how this event unfolded both The Hub and I were in awe at the protection and goodness of God. I don't believe in coincidence but I do believe God watches over us and our things even when we forget to. In our hustle and bustle of leaving the church The Hub had inadvertently put the bag down and in a rare instance, forgot it there. Yet, God allowed that laptop to sit untouched by the front door of a school on a well-traveled street. No one stole it, no one touched it. Then the alarm "happened" to go off in the middle of the night. Prompting the police to come and find the laptop bomb bag and take it on over to the station for safe keeping.
Thank God that He is watching when we are not. No one wants to lose a laptop. We can rest easy knowing that He never rests, sleeps or slumbers. My final thought, friends, is to share with you my travel in to work this morning. As I drove and thought about the best way to share this story, I was listening to WTOP, news radio. The graduation song comes on as they relay a story about high school graduation rates around the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Friends, you know by the second note of that song I was all tears and no good. Oldest graduates in less than 2 weeks. We're getting excited with the graduation party-planning and good-food having and awesome celebration time ahead.
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