The Patty strikes again.

I am on travel for work this week. I traveled here via government car yesterday. I admittedly wasn't looking forward to the drive, but it went smoothly and was okay. I am working on a playlist of the songs I listen to on German radio. It is eclectic. I could maybe say I even enjoyed the drive a little bit.

I like the breakfasts at the hotel, so this morning, I woke up, ate breakfast, and went into work. Good start to a long week. At about 1000, my first meeting wrapped up, and I thought I would enjoy a cup of coffee. I had just enough time to get a cup before the next meeting.

My wallet wasn't in my purse!

I remembered that I had used it when I stopped at the rest area, to get a 1 euro coin out for the restroom. So I knew at least that it wasn't in Wiesbaden, and that I'd had it with me. So I convinced myself not to panic before going back to the hotel room, which I couldn't do until after noon.

It wasn't there.

Now, this is by the grace of God:

By the grace of God, I wrote that little story on my blog called, "Lost in Translation", where I bumbled up the German so much in the Autohof that it was memorable to me.

By the grace of God, yesterday I stopped at that same Autohof, only for the second time ever.

By the grace of God, I thought, "I'm going to remember where this is so that maybe David and I can stop here if we're ever on this road someday."

By the grace of God, I actually remembered.

By the grace of God, because I remembered, I was able to find contact information for the Autohof and email them.

By the grace of God, they responded promptly.

By the grace of God, a customer turned in my wallet intact.

And by the grace of God, I picked up my wallet today and will be able to do my job tomorrow, which I wouldn't have been able to for weeks if I had actually lost my wallet.

Praise God.

There was too much working against me here for me to leave this to chance. I know some people don't believe in God. But talk to me about it. This was one blip of God's goodness in my life. He has done so much more for me than take care of my wallet. I'd be happy to tell you about it some day.

Side note: did you get to read my tribute to my husband? If not, please do. He deserves everyone to know how awesome he is. You know what he said when I told him about this via text? He texted me, "I thought I was going to need to road trip." He didn't chastise me or complain about getting the kids ready or doing a 6 hour drive (round trip). He was totally prepared to support me 100%. So glad I posted that entry a couple of days ago! He is my knight in shining armor.

This is my expression to myself. And, yes, I am wearing a Captain America t-shirt.