I'm taking some down time this week. For the most part I'm hanging around the house doing some reading, watching Tyler play baseball and thinking about finishing up a few projects around the house that I haven't had time to get done.
Today I decided to ride the motorcycle along the West Coast of Vancouver Island. It would be a nice way to chill out and just enjoy the scenery. I left about 10:30 and got to a little place called French Beach about 45 minutes later. I pulled my phone and saw that I had 3 missed calls. I'm not sure about you, but in my world, 3 missed calls in 45 minutes tell me something's up. I listened to my messages. The first was from a blocked number but no voice. The second was from a blocked number with an important message to call as soon as possible. The third was from Barb saying there's an important message from the security department at the bank that you need to follow up on.
I tried to call from where I was, but the wonder of technology is that I could only get a US cell signal and even though I was standing in Canada the cell service thought I was in the USA. Therefore, I couldn't call to see what was going on. So much for some quiet, reflective time at the beach. All I could think about was what was going on. After about a whole 2 minutes of trying to relax, I got back on the bike and came home to find out what was going on. the trip home was much quicker than the trip there. Nothing says urgency like 'the bank wants to talk to you'.
I got home and picked up the phone and made the call. When I gave the agent the file number, she told me that my card had been 'compromised'. Somebody had stolen my information and was trying to make a bogus card. I asked how she knew this. She told me that someone had likely been arrested with my information in their posession but beyond that, she couldn't tell me anything more.
I had two very different thoughts flood through my mind at that point. The first was 'Thanks for calling and looking out for me'. The second was 'somebody stole my information.' 'How did they do that?' I'm pretty careful with my card. I don't let it out of my sight nor do I leave it lying around. But somehow, in someway, somebody was able to record and store my information. The irony is that a friend had the same thing happen to them a while ago and was telling me how they felt about it. In their case the person who stole the number used it to pay for the paving of their driveway. (Thieves can be really stupid!!)
I want to come back to my first thought for a moment. The credit card company watches over my card because it is an investment for them. I spend their money and they charge me interest if I don't pay it all back on time. They want to make sure that it's only me who spends their money because if it's not, they don't get their money back.
As I write this, a small bird is on the branch in the tree about 8 feet away. It's got a red crown and kind of brown and grey feathers. It's about the size of a sparrow. As I watch it, I'm reminded of what God says about his care for me. A sparrow isn't worth much, He says, but He sees it when it falls from the sky. He then goes on to ask how much more will He care for me and you because of His great love for us.
Talk is cheap. Love steps up to the plate and follows through. I didn't get the connecting time with God that I was planning for at the beach because I was distracted by my unsettling phone message. But... God sent me a message anyway through a seed thought for a blog post and the appearance of a sparrow in front of me as I wrote it.
The link takes me to one of my favorite songs. It is full of great memories and constantly inspires and reminds me of God's care and concern for me. I hope you enjoy it!
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