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a moment

We left Montana in November and traveled to Germany in December to spend Christmas with my husband's family. My brother-in-law is stationed over there with his family and their parents joined us from Florida for a true Spear Christmas. Miriam loved her time with her five Spear cousins. We enjoyed the beautiful Christmas Markets, and our passports were stolen.
While that last bit sounds terrible (and seemed terrible at the time), it ended up being easier than expected to remedy. We had to shell out the $$$ for new passports and hang out at the consulate for a few hours one morning and then, voila, we got temporary passports good for one year.
Meanwhile, back in Germany, I was still upset after receiving the replacement passports. I was upset that the trip suddenly became much more expensive than anticipated. I was upset that we missed out on a special family trip while at the consulate. I was most upset at our messed up world that causes people to believe stolen passports are the answer. We walked through a park across from the consulate. Passing by a gazebo, a man sat on a chair with his cello playing ethereal, wistful music. As we stopped to listen, a dove flew overhead, through the gazebo. The sun shone and God reminded me He is good and rules the day, though our messed up world would seek me to believe otherwise.

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