A friend stated, “We need to get used to surprises.”

I agreed and added, “And be ready to laugh.” Why? Because life is full of surprises, and they are not all fun.

Certainly, I was not laughing on the evening of November 21st when I discovered my laptop computer was missing. Neither was I in panic, fear, or anger. I recalled my recent footsteps, posted notices on the bulletin boards, looked into cabinets and cupboards.

My daughter, Katie, had purchased my laptop in the United Kingdom and had set it up there. She was able to do a search for my laptop from her computer and informed me, “Your battery is dead. Or it has been taken from the laptop.” At which Ian, her husband, said, “That’s what computer thieves do to computers that they have taken. They take out the batteries so that the device cannot be tracked.”

And with that I accepted the unpleasant truth: my computer had been stolen from the Parkview dining room. A rummage sale had taken place there earlier in the day. It had only lasted three hours during the mid-day, not allowing day workers and students to participate. Taking those people into consideration, I was the only vender who stayed until six o’clock with my newly written books and secondhand DVD’s.

By having my laptop with me, I could work on a post for Linda’s WORDsworth when there were no customers. I was out of the room only three times–for ten minutes, for five minutes, and for 20 minutes. I was in the room for five and a half hours, and yet I saw no one suspicious. Yet between 3:30 and 6:30 my computer was taken.

It was not a laughing matter, but it was a surprise–to me. However, I know that my God was not surprised, and He knows where that laptop is and how it got there. I don’t expect to ever have that knowledge. But you never know, I might be surprised by it in the future. In that moment, I can see me laughing at yet another of life’s surprises.

POSTSCRIPT: A new computer was purchased on Black Friday. With it I return to publishing posts to this website. If you have read this far, pat yourself on the back, and surprise me with a short response.