November 24, 2013 - A day of Joy, and of Sorrow...

It's been a long trek across the country.  We decided to take today, stay in the area, and enjoy the time together.  

We began by going to a very early church service at the San Diego Mission.  

It's a beautiful serene place that we have been to before, but only as tourists.

The service reminded me of the Lutheran church I went to growing up.  Many passages were read by the clergy and repeated by the congregation.  

There was a gentleness to the service.  The reverend sang short passages a capella, followed by words softly spoken by the congregation.  

He spoke about Jesus Christ the King and referenced several verses from the Bible - 2 Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-20 and Luke 23:35-43.  

He asked, "Where were you when JFK was shot?".  I remember that day clearly...in class, desks facing south, windows facing east, the principal's voice came over the loudspeaker, we all stood in silence and prayed, and then were sent home.  It was a tragic time, a time of transformation and he likened it to Jesus' death...tragic, yet transforming.  

But He was not put on a throne and given the respect and reverence of a kingly leader. The one thief hanging on the cross next to Him knew...he said, as is written in Luke, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom".   The reverend referenced the song "Were You There? (when they crucified my Lord)", and then he asked, if you were there, where would you be?  At the foot of the cross?  Running away?  Mocking Him? Abandoning Him?  Denying Him?

He said if we live as members of the Kingdom, our lives are to be filled with life and truth, holiness and grace, justice, love and peace.  If we expect the world to have justice, love and peace, we must strive to have these qualities.  

He read Matthew 25:31-46, mainly 35-40...For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;  I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'  Then the righteous will answer Him 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Again, a message of keep on, keeping on, striving to be the person God has called you to be, humble, sincere, loving.   He ended with saying, always go forward - never turn back.

We were at peace, grateful to have this day together.  

                           Heading back to Coronado.

Last night something weird happened.  When we returned to the jeep which was parked by the beach, ready to head "home", the hood clamps on the jeep were unlatched - we assumed someone had attempted to steal the battery and must have taken off because of people passing by.

That being said, we decided to pay for parking in the Hotel Del's private lot. 

This elevator is awesome!

We decided to have brunch in the Crown Room.

It's a buffet and they serve every imaginable food here!  Our friend Ron would be in seventh heaven! 

                     Just two of the many plates we had!  

We had gone to this brunch when we were here years ago, and they served a "chocolate flour-less cake" that is every chocolate lover's dream!  When we got home, I contacted the Del about it and they gave me the pastry chef's email address!  So Daphne and I corresponded and she gave me the recipe...and she even figured out what measurements I should use - as her's were for the entire day's worth of people!  So nice! Made it for my daughter's birthday - it was yummy but no where's near as awesome!

So there the cake was again.  Still as delicious!  As I was wandering around the buffet, I thought, maybe Daphne still works here!  So I asked one of the server ladies and found out she did indeed!  

We had a wonderful time talking and then she came over to our table to meet Greg and sat with us and talked some more!  We told her all about our trip. She recently traveled to Dublin, London and NYC - saw Jersey Boys and some other shows on Broadway, and said they were great!  Thought afterwards - which place would she recommend going to first - Dublin or London?  (I'm thinking, mmm, Europe...some day!) She gave me her card and wants to follow the blog.  And told me I can buy the chocolate she uses for the recipe, at Wholefoods! (Whaaat...of course I'm gonna try and make it again!)  It was just SO great to meet her!  

Greg and I wandered around the shops for a while before heading outside...they were gearing up for folks coming in for Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping...

An ice skating rink!                                           And a mini Zamboni!

It was such a beautiful warm day.  We sat on a bench and just soaked up the sun, for a nice long while...then took off our shoes and walked on the beach.  The sand was so soft and toasty.

                                                                           The tire line from last night...

The sand is amazing - it has tiny gold flecks in it that just sparkle in the sun's light...

                                            This pic is for my mom...(heehee)

Last time we found so many sand dollars....this time only a piece of one...

So we sat on another bench, dusted off the soft sand, put our shoes back on and slowly made our way back to the parking lot...

...and then, we saw the jeep.  Greg's bicycle was gone.  The cable lock had been cut. A thief had taken his 25 year old bike, and left a newer bike leaning against the jeep.

There are no words to describe the sadness and grief we felt.  To happen here, in a private lot, with surveillance and a manned payment booth, in broad daylight...how could this happen?  And what kind of person does something like this?  

We were just devastated.  Not so much for the loss of a bike, but the loss of this bike, that Greg had ridden over thousands and thousands of miles on, through rain, sleet, wind and dust storms, mountains and valleys, and even sand.  To go through all the trials we've been through on this trip and to come to this...it felt like a punch in the stomach.  

I called the police while Greg spoke to the woman in the booth. Theo, from the Del came out immediately to talk with us.

Officer Good arrived on the scene pretty soon after that.  His diligence and empathy was exemplary.  He made a detailed report, and called for another policeman who arrived in a truck to take the bike that was left, as evidence, to check for fingerprints.  

A woman who worked at the Del came over with tissues to offer me...yes, I was quite hysterical.  I called my good friend Madeline, who would ask one of the elders in our church to send out a phone-prayer chain.  And Dakeem, also from the Del, spent time looking all over the parking lot and areas of possible escape, and found the lock which was tossed. That was taken for evidence too.

Officer Good said he would do all he could to help us.  Since Greg's bike was an unusual type for this area (a touring bike), as most are road/racing or mountain bikes, he believed that, coupled with the distinctive additions Greg had done on the bike, would make it easier to locate.  Before he left, Theo let him in the high rise hotel rooms to ask people staying there if they had seen anything.  

The lady who gave me tissues noticed the bike attached to the jeep around 1:00 on her way to work.  We arrived at the "crime scene" around 4:00. Dakeem said he would check into the surveillance tapes for those hours, but unfortunately our jeep was not where the cameras were pointing and he saw nothing suspicious at all.

They all suggested looking on craigslist, ebay, calling used bike shops and registering with the National Bike Registry, and our sister-in-law suggested signing up with a stolen bike twitter website - we did it all that night back at the RV.

At some point that night, I realized the spelling of the bike was entered wrong, so I checked craigslist again and found that someone had just posted a bike for sale that day, listing some of the characteristics of Greg's bike.  We were so hopeful!  Sent an email to Officer Good.

The next morning, when he spoke to Greg, he said that when he read our email, he was so excited, he couldn't wait to get to work in the morning! (We vote him Police Officer of the Year!)  We were so grateful for his kindness and hard work - that really blew us away.

It turned out not to be Greg's bike, but he vowed to keep working on our behalf.

Struggling with the whys and wherefores has had us stumped...until I read a post from my friends blog...and then it clicked.  She referenced Romans 8:28-29 - and a few words from both verses jumped out at me - all things work together for good...to be conformed to the image of His Son.  Bingo!  Good will prevail, and these things we go through will shape and change us for the better!

And with the love and support and prayers of family, friends and even strangers, lifting our spirits, it gave us hope...coupled with the bad, is this incredible force of good.

So what do we do now?

Well, to quote a line from my favorite movie, Never give up, never surrender!

Greg's brother is going to meet up with us - he has a bicycle Greg can use...

                                 ...and the journey will continue!