the case of the stolen purse

so when my mom, sister, and niece were visiting a sad sadness of a thing happened.

my niece set her purse down on top of her american girl doll in the kids department of h&m to try on a pair of shoes and someone took it.

it was heart breaking.

I mean I literally cried for her.

sure it was just a little kid purse but it was filled with her treasures:

her doll's glasses, her little wallet full of coins, some candy, and a digital camera I had given her for her trip. 

she loves to take pictures and had been snapping away the whole trip.

those can never be replaced.

even as Im writing this anger is welling up inside me at the person who would take a pink cheetah print purse from the kids department.

I know it seems like a silly thing to get so angry about, but its not just about the purse. on the way home it occurred to me that no matter what you do you cannot protect your kids (or those you love) from this world. you can try and try but sometimes life will win and something bad will happen that you cannot change or fix. 

 when I thought about how much I love my niece and how much I will love my children I started to panic. it was like a box of bricks fell on me while I sat there on the bus.

how will I ever survive when they are hurting?

 {by panic I mean I could not let this whole thing go. I lost sleep over this even after my family had gone home and had forgotten about the dumb purse.}

and I finally remembered my niece telling my mom, "maybe whoever took it, needed it more than I did"

 my heart melted. you can not protect them, but you can teach them.

you can love them and help them understand how much God loves them. because the truth is we can't avoid sadness, even when its not our fault... when we did everything right. bad things will happen and you can't save anyone from that, but you can help them be equip to move through it.

and that's what really matters. not that she has a cute cheetah purse and gets to take pictures with her camera, but that she knows how much God loves her and even when she is hurt he hasn't forgotten her.

thats the heart of the matter