Some things in life you never forget. One of those for me was the time when our house was robbed. It’s funny the things that stand out after a traumatic event. If your house has been robbed, maybe you felt it was traumatic, too.
You know how you see photos of ransacked homes after a home invasion? Well, I’ve often jokingly said, “if our house was broken into, no one would be able to tell.” Housekeeping and tidiness are definitely not my strongpoints. Sure enough, when our police officers came in to investigate, I distinctly remember saying to one of them, “No that was already like that….”
Crickets.
The other thing that stands out in my memory is about the boxes. We had moved into the house several months before but these were up in a closet, still unpacked. You know how you write “kitchen” or “living room” on the outside of boxes so you’ll know where to take them when you’re moving in? Well, when we moved, I had written “family heirlooms” on those as a joke…like we would have priceless heirlooms…I never dreamed someone would take it literally. But someone did. They tore through those boxes and strew the contents all over the place. They were probably pretty disappointed when they realized it was only priceless to my grandparents and therefore, to me…but probably not to anyone else, certainly not the pawn shop or wherever they were planning on cashing it in.
But those are not really, truly what stands out to me about when our house was broken into. What was really important was that I realized how much I depended on door locks to protect us. I realized that my faith, at least when it came to safety at home, wasn’t in the Lord. I would have said that it was, but I learned a lesson when this shook me so deeply. Since then, a couple of verses in particular have brought me great comfort.
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
and
“When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.” Psalm 118:5-6 I like the NLT version that says, “What can mere people do to me?”
My kids were, understandably, shaken up by this event. It’s hugely disconcerting to think that strangers were in our house, uninvited. As parents, it’s up to us to point them to the One who is steadfast, always watching and protecting us from any ultimate harm. We’ve had many discussions about this. I think that being honest about my own feelings is important, with my kids in the tween and teen years. They need to know that I struggle too, and that I’ve decided to put my faith Jesus, not an alarm service. When I’m scared, I don’t double-check the locks, I call out to Jesus. Otherwise, I am giving lip-service to my faith. And that would be one of the biggest mistakes I could make as a parent.
This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday, #LiveFreeThursday, and Grace and Truth.