A thief in the night

Yesterday morning, I woke up to that noise. You know that noise that wakes you up from a dead sleep, terrified, not wanting to move? I swear it was the porch door slamming shut. I waited, not quite knowing what to do. I listened. The next noise came and it sounded like someone was walking in the living room. Then came the dreaded squeak of the kids door. That was it, I had had it. No one was going to come into my house and steal my kids!!! I thought about precious Brother laying there sleeping and then waking up with someone carrying him out of the house. ( Dada had spent the night at Grandma's) So I ran into his room, to find him peacefully sleeping away. The house was secure. My mind was running.

I went back to bed wondering what the dog would have done if someone had been in the house. Would she have laid there not hearing or doing anything? Would she have barked and then cowered under the bed??

It took me a long time to get back to sleep. My mind kept wondering and thinking about all those what ifs. I finally had to stop myself from thinking those crazy thoughts and rest assured that Christ is in control of all.

Finally, I was able to fall back into peaceful sleep.

When I woke up, I was ready to face another day with the kids.

My mom had invited us over for dinner and we happily obliged. Joy cooked!! And she did a fantastic job! She made the whole meal.

We were there for about 3 hours.

When we got home, I walked in the door and immediately knew something was the matter. There was our window screen laying in the middle of the breezeway floor, and the porch door was hanging wide open.

Our house was broken into. Not in the middle of the night, but in the evening, in broad daylight. With threat of being seen by neighbors.

I looked into the family room and sure enough the dvd player was gone.

We called the police.

The kids are screaming, Dada was shaking.

It of course takes them forever to get there.

We had walked around the house, noticing what was missing. The kids immediately noticed that their Wii was missing. More tears. That was their Christmas present, their really only Christmas present this year. We didn't have a lot of money and knowing that they didn't need a bunch of new toys, we decided to get them 1 big present. And it was the Wii. We got them each remotes and a game.

The police came and were there for less then 15 min. And most of that was in his car. He walked around the house, asked us what was missing, gave us a case number, said he would ask the neighbors and that was it.

I don't know what I was expecting him to do. Maybe be a little more sympathetic, or something. I did think he would dust for fingerprints. But nope, he did nothing.

He left and we were left wondering exactly what to do next.

We have been sleeping with the windows open. I knew that I needed to feel a little more secure. And we needed to show the kids that we were doing something. They needed reassurance. So we flipped the air on, and locked all the windows.

While I was putting the kids down, Dada asked me to read the Bible to them and then pray with them. I readily agreed. I told them how when I get scared I think about God's hedge of protection that he gives me us. And I imagine that hedge hiding our house from the bad guys. Brother liked that idea.

Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

They then asked to sleep in our room, but settled for sleeping together in the same bed.

It took them a while to get to sleep, and they woke up a couple times in the middle of the night.

This morning they asked me so many questions. Just different things about who could have done it, and what did they look like, and WHY would they have done that.

Dada said that she wanted to be a teacher so she could teach the robbers not to steal. She said she wanted to teach them to love God instead.

There are so many things swirling around my head. Some of which I don't really want to share, and some of which I will.

I feel like so much has happened to us lately. It feels like 1 thing after another is being taken from us. Slowly but surely.

I keep wondering when all this is going to end. I feel like we are kinda on a roller coaster that just won't stop.

I am fighting discouragement and anger. And I hate that.

I don't understand why God would allow this to happen. The Wii was the kids'. Since we have turned off the internet and cable, it was 1 of the few things left that they could do for entertainment. The Wii was in use a lot for downtime. I may never know why God allowed someone to enter into our house and steal or things. Maybe a "good" christian wouldn't even ask why, but would happily go on with life.

But I feel like I am stuck. Just stuck in the middle of........this. This something I can't describe.

This morning, I read in my Bible these verses. Psalm 119: 150-151

150 They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.
151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.

There are people out there that do evil. I know that. They could care less who they hurt or what they take. The one thing that I can rest assured in his his commandments and promises are true.

Bad things will happen in life. We all know that. You can ask me about the many bad things that have happened to us in the past 8 months. But the best place for me and my family is walking and the will of the Lord. And that is what I intend to do.

Thankfully our house was not destroyed. When I think of people braking into houses, I think of them destroying everthing and throwing everything on the ground. They didn't rummage through everything and take all they could. They were probably only in there mere minutes just taking the DVD player and the Wii, oh and my $250 Longaberger basket, which had all the remotes and games in it.

BTW, I found out what the dog would do if someone came into our house. She will poop and pee all over the place. Guess what I get to clean up?!?!