Hacked

To be honest, this has not been the best week ever.

On Tuesday night, I received one of those phone calls from my mom- you know, the kind you always dread. She said that my Nana's husband had suddenly died. This is the same Nana whose house flooded earlier in the week and who had the stomach virus on top of it all. Her husband, B.L., was not technically my grandpa because she remarried a few years ago, but we had all come to love him very much because of the way he loves my Nana. Thankfully, Andrew was able to take a sick day at work so that we could go down for the funeral on Friday. I was amazed at how well Nana seems to be handling everything. Truly, the peace of God "surpasses all understanding". Despite the circumstances, we both enjoyed getting to see so much of my family, and some entertaining things occurred while we were there. Here are just three, all of which come from Nana's hilarious brothers and sisters:

*-Aunt Mary (comes up to Andrew and puts her arm around him): "Well my goodness, we just have a lot of catching up to do! I haven't seen you since you were just a little boy!"
-Andrew: "Oh, uh... yeah I guess we do..." (Have I ever seen this woman in my life??)
-Aunt Mary: "Oh dear, you're not Timothy, are you?"

*Aunt Viola (speaking of having her home remodeled): "We had those bricks laid...you know, by one of those people who lays bricks."

*A huge bowl of Velveeta cheese and Rotel was sitting on the counter, waiting to be melted to make cheese dip. Everyone was fixing his plate, when Uncle Harlin came to the bowl.
-Uncle Harlin gets two huge chunks of cheese out of the bowl and piles it on his plate with some Rotel tomatoes on top.
-Dad: "I think they are going to melt that to make it into cheese dip."
-Uncle Harlin: "Oh, were they?"
-Dad: "Yeah, but I guess it's whatever you want..."
-Uncle Harlin: "Oh, well ok." And sits down to enjoy his snack.

I ran 20 miles yesterday. It was not awful. I actually rather enjoy the solitude of beginning a run in the 5:00 hour on a Sunday morning while the rest of the world sleeps. Call me crazy.

Our bank account was hacked into this weekend. Fortunately, the bank called to report some "unusual account activity." We will be able to get all of our money back by calling the fraud department tomorrow when the banks reopen. Some World of Warcraft nerd bought about $400 worth of gaming equipment on our debit card. Apparently, what people do these days is put card readers into machines so that when you pump gas or pay for groceries, they can steal your card number and PIN information. The world continues to astonish me with its depravity. People may not be sinning any more than they were hundreds of years ago, but they sure are finding more creative ways to do it.

We got a nibble on the car this week. The guy is actually coming to look at it today, which is the most interested anyone has been. Last night, I was at the car wash with my dad, trying to clean my Beetle and get it ready to show. Let me preface this by saying that we had gotten the top replaced a couple of months ago and had not tried it out yet (because the dealer told us to wait at least 30 days). We decided to put the top down, just to make sure everything was in mint condition. Well of course, one of the back windows would not go back up. I had to call the potential buyers this morning to let them know about this situation. They were very understanding and are still coming to see the car. I know that God always does these things for our good, but sometimes I really do get annoyed with the timing of them and the way they seem to happen one right after the other.

To end on a good note, I have raised all of the money I need for the Peru trip! Andrew still has a little way to go, but people have been so gracious, and God is continually reminding us that He always provides for His people.

In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel