The Robbery

It had been a wonderful day.
My youngest son was about two years old and we had a full day planned together.
It was fun to plan one-on-one days…when the older three were in school.
Our youngest daughter wasn’t even born yet.

My son and I went out to lunch and played at a park.
I even did a little birthday shopping for my husband.
We got home long before the other children would get off the bus.
I opened the door.

Right inside was a country bench that was in front of some low windows.
The younger children loved to stand there with their juice and their snack.
They used the bench as a little table and enjoyed looking out the window to see when the school bus was coming down the street.

Typical of our routine, my son walked in, put his juice cup down and the remainder of his goldfish crackers and I gathered the few packages that were still in the car.

I passed him and gave him a little hug as I went by.
I went into the kitchen to put my packages down.
I noticed dried mud on the floor that was not there when we left.
I looked over and  saw that the basement door was slightly opened.

I ran into the family room, swooped up my son in my arms, grabbed my purse, and ran to a neighbor’s house.
She called the police, who came immediately.
She told them that I was next door with her.
I called my husband.

By the time the police had gone through the house, my husband came home.
They talked to my husband.
I tried to distract our other children who had come home from school.
Our neighbor was such a blessing to help me with all of the children.

My husband and I had to go through the house to verify if anything was taken.
Downstairs was fine, but upstairs…
Mattresses were moved to the side, drawers opened, a lock box was unopened in the hallway.
Things were strewn about, but nothing valuable was missing.

We never keep money in our house, but back then our oldest daughter babysat.
She would keep her babysitting money in her purse, in her room.
Her purse was lying on the floor.
She had just babysat for a neighbor and had $13.00 in her purse.
That money was the only thing taken from our house.

If anyone has ever been robbed, whether nothing was taken, or much was stolen, there is an incredible feeling of violation.
Someone has gone through your things…walked in your rooms.
My young children wanted to sleep with the lights on for a few nights after that happened.

But there was more to the story…
It seems that while my son and I were having our wonderful afternoon, a search was happening in our town, on the ground, and with a helicopter in the air.
The “robber” was a young teenage boy with many problems.
He had run away from a difficult situation and was stealing money, food, and clothes.

Our neighborhood was wooded and he had been seen in those woods.
He had robbed multiple houses that day, and the woods were a good place to hide.
When the police finally caught him, they found $13.00 in his sock, clothes he had taken from various houses, and food, which included a plate of lasagna that he had taken from someone’s refrigerator.

I was a Christian, for only a few years, when all of this happened.
If the Word of God meant anything to me at all, it was being tested at that moment.
Could I forgive?

It wasn’t the $13.00 that was taken. That could easily be replaced.
It was the feeling of intrusion…the violation…the uneasiness that lasted for weeks.

Soon after this had happened, the police came to our door.
They went to all of the houses that had been robbed.
They told each of us that the young man had confessed.

He confessed that he had climbed in our basement window, which he had broken in order to get inside…climbed down the wall (there were still sneaker marks)…came upstairs to the kitchen to use our phone…went upstairs looking for money…took the money out of the purse…and left our house the way he came.
He confessed that he had come back to our house later in the day…entering the same way…to use our phone again.

We moved from that home when our fifth child was born, but the memories are so vivid.

What the young man did was wrong.
I found myself having more pity for him than anger towards him.
I prayed for him…I had to…as much for me as for him.
Pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)
Those prayers tendered my heart and helped me to forgive.

I tucked my children in bed that night with extra tenderness…and endless gratitude.
I could not imagine being that hungry…that hopeless.

But I once was.
Maybe not hungry like the young man…but hopeless.
Hopeless because there was a time when I didn’t know Jesus as my Savior.
Hopeless because there was a time when I, too, was lost.
I needed to be found…by Him.
I belong to Him…I don’t have to hide.

But haven’t I robbed God?
Haven’t I given Him the equivalent of $13.00 in a sock and thought it was enough?
Haven’t I robbed Him when I glorify myself rather than give Him the glory He deserves?

Those humbling, convicting thoughts softened my heart as I prayed for the young man.
Yes, he sinned…but so do I.
The difference is that I have found Forgiveness.

I wanted to be able to tell that young man about the Jesus I know and love so much.
I wanted to tell him that he has a Heavenly Father who loves him and will forgive him of all the wrong he has done, if only he would confess to HIM like he confessed to all of us.
Confess that he is a sinner and desperately needs a Savior.

There was nothing he could do to save himself in the woods that day except…confess.
There was nothing he could do to save himself eternally except confess that he has sinned against a Holy God.
Trying to save himself was getting him nowhere.
He needed to run to Jesus who could bring him out of the dark woods and into the light.

I never got the chance to talk to him personally.
But prayers reach far.
So does forgiveness.
Lives are drastically changed by both.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
(Matthew 6:14,15)

 

 

One response to “The Robbery”

1. Amen to that!

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