If you've never heard of an "accidental car theft," then perhaps a rather strange news story from Portland, Oregon, hasn't reached you just yet.<\/p>\n\n
In late October, Erin Hatzi reported to police that her red Subaru Impreza had been stolen out of her driveway—according to her surveillance footage, "a woman [had] calmly enter[ed] her car and [drove] away" with it. Calmly, indeed: In fact, the woman had sat in the car for a couple minutes. "We were really confused because it didn't seem like the normal actions of a car thief," said Hatzi.<\/p>\n\n
The next day, "[p]olice stopped a woman attempting to return the car outside of Hatzi's home." The driver offered up this explanation: The night before, "she had been sent to the neighborhood to pick up her friend's car and accidentally took Hatzi's vehicle instead." The friend did not see the car until that morning, and upon realizing the mix-up, left a note and gas money inside the car and sent it back to its rightful owner.<\/p>\n\n
So what had happened? According to police, "older Subaru keys are interchangeable and can occasionally be used to open different cars."<\/p>\n\n
Potential Preaching Angles: May this bizarre happily-ever-after news story remind us that while we might jump to immediate conclusions about our situation, God has a bigger picture in mind—a picture in which the car might be returned at the end.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[435],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3425,3446,3673,4010,4164,4474,4482,4483,4546,4623,4821,4824,5057,5200,5208],"tax_ctp_topics":[395],"class_list":["post-40125","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-apology","tax_ctp_tags-assumptions","tax_ctp_tags-connecting-with-hearers","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-honesty","tax_ctp_tags-miscommunication","tax_ctp_tags-mistakes","tax_ctp_tags-misunderstanding","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-perception","tax_ctp_tags-responsibility","tax_ctp_tags-restitution","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-perception","tax_ctp_tags-truthfulness","tax_ctp_tags-understanding"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n