A Parent's Worst Nightmare

We had a very sobering day Saturday. An 8 year old girl went missing down between us and the American school for 5 hours. Praise God that they found her - she had gone over to a neighbor's to play and fell asleep on the third floor while playing hide and seek. By the time she walked through her front door Sat. evening the police had closed down the border to Malaysia and were checking vehicles and had search dogs trying to find her. Apparently she didn't tell her parents that she was leaving or where she was going and for some reason the occupants of that house didn't know that she was still there. A neighbor and I started canvassing the condo's where we live, going door to door with her picture, asking if anyone had seen her and to call the police if they DID see her and the neighbor mentioned that we need to start micro-chipping children so this doesn't happen. Scary! As a parent it seems like a good idea that could potentially save children's lives but as a Christian you wonder if that's the right thing to do. There was a big neighborhood yard sale which compounded the fears - there were hundreds of people who came from all the island as this was a widely advertised event.

On the bright side I found several fantastic buys:) I found a gas grill, two teak lounge chairs with cushions, and a teak side table for half the price we would have paid for a new gas grill. The grill is a Weber which you can't buy here and comes with an extra griddle and a cover - we were pretty excited:) I also found an electric digital alarm clock (they are crazy expensive here) and a very cheap stereo. Now, back home it's fairly easy to transport a large item that you find at a garage sale. You either empty out the van and load that or you find a friend with a truck and a little extra time. Here it's a bit more of a challenge! I found a man that will deliver items to you that you purchase from families who are moving or at yard sales for a very reasonable price so he's delivering everything on Monday. I have used our wagon to haul quite a bit - large plants, a stereo, a cozy coup, etc but it was going to be a challenge with the larger furniture!

Happy Mother's Day!