A stolen car?

I thank God that He not only provides answers, but often amuses us by demonstrating His sense of humor here at the Water Street Rescue Mission.

Recently one of our residents, who struggles with paranoia, found life in our shelter overwhelming. After she telephoned police and the FBI to report imagined plots against her, the client was removed from shelter life for her own safety (and the safety of other residents). She took refuge elsewhere but that soon came to an end and, again homeless, she was permitted to stay in our cold weather sleeping with the stipulation that she not take it upon herself to call the police or the FBI during her stay.

She hesitated in accepting this condition as she was certain her car was in our parking lot and that her ex-husband had sold it to one of our employees. We tried to reassure her and repeated the “No Police-No FBI” rule.

Naively, we believed the matter settled until, next morning a call from administration alerted me to “something” happening in the parking lot. As I exited my office building, there was this dear lady, leaning into the passenger window of the police cruiser, rapidly explaining to the officer how her car had been stolen and parked right here in our parking lot.

As she described the third car in the lot and pointed wildly with her right hand to identify it, I was more amused than surprised to find that the vehicle in question was MY car!

-Vicki Bollman, Women's Ministries